###### tags: `Intro`

# The Basics of the Web
So you are learning Web Development. You joined a Bootcamp to get the best training out there. Just what does being a Developer really entail?

## WWW
- The World Wide Web (or www). You know that website you are looking at right now or how you check your email through a browser? We don't need to type www anymore but it still applies. As a developer you get to create websites and applications and basically publish them to the world wide web.
- Creating an html document is actually only part of the equation. You can click on that document in your file manager it opens up your browser and you can view the contents of the document that are in the body tag. However unless I am on your computer or have the same document on mine opening up that index.html won't look the same, until we publish, host, or deploy it to the web. Then it becomes publicly accessable.

## Request / Response Cycle
- So open up a browser and type in the address bar www.google.com or leave off the www if you want. What do you see? You should see the google home page. Why?
- Take a look at this image
- This is what happens everytime we visit a website. Might look like a lot and it is but it takes a matter of seconds or less. Computers are smart and quick.

### The steps broken down
1. Type or click on a website link
2. You computer takes that request and sends it out through a network of cables and such to the internet
a. The web address actually translates to a ip address that the internet knows and understands to find and locate what you are requesting
3. Now we have reached the websites server and we are reading the data pulling up images or files or what ever is there
4. The server answers with a reponse saying yup I got your info right here, let me send it your way
5. Back through those cables and such over the internet lines
6. Where finally it displays on your computer

Now I said Computers are smart and fast. And they are. Did you know that if you have been to a website before your computer remembers and actually displays that data even faster as it stored basically a screenshot of the website. Oh it still sends that request and gets a response but it loads what it has stored right away while it gets any new changes that may have happened.
- Ever been told to clear you cache and cookies? That is that screenshot data that you are clearing. By the way you should do this every so often, yes I know it stinks cause you will have to log into every site again but guess what? This stuff can eventually slow things down (ok so not much slower)

## Local host vs WWW
- www is well the world wide web. These are websites that have been deployed to a hosting platform and are available to the public (unless there is a log in of course), but more than that these addresses can be access from any device that can get onto the internet.
- Although when looking at a webpage via the local host it might look and feel the same you are actually viewing the file from your computer. No internet connection required.

### Why local host

If it's not viewable to the public why even view a website via local host? Well the local host is a developers best friend. This is where we will spend quite a few sleepless nights while debugging or building our projects.

- Just imagine trying to create a website and you are adding some styling to the site, but you have to try a few different things before you get it right. Now imagine trying to do that to a deployed website? That means editing the document, logging into the hosting platform and uploading the new document. Thats a lot of work.
- Now imagine doing this locally. Edit, save, repeat. Then when it's just right upload to the hosting platform. So much better right?

So now you know all about the web right? No magic at all right? There is a lot more to learn of course but you certainly have the basics now. Here is a special button you might want