Let’s talk Web Browsers. Oh boy! First of all, what is a web browser? A web browser is a computer program; of course we don’t call computer programs, “computer programs” anymore, now we call them “applications.” Well, if it’s running behind the scenes we still call them programs but if it’s interacting with the person using the computer we call them applications. In case you haven’t already noticed, computers are a little, ah, “Fuzzy.” Maybe that’s why we love them :)

So, a web browser is an application. If you use a Windows computer, you know the web browser application as “Internet Explorer” and when you want to launch it you click, or doubleclick, on an icon that is a big blue “e.”

When you “launch” Internet Explorer, (“launch” is the tech version of “start up” or “turn on”) we don’t turn applications on to make them begin working we “launch” them. Cool, huh?

Anyway; when you click or doubleclick the big blue “e” you are launching Internet Explorer. When you do that it opens in a window and displays a web page, your “home page.” Hum, now how did that happen? How did a web page get displayed?

I’ll tell you how it happened. First your computer was connected to the Internet. When Internet Explorer launched it is programmed to go to Yahoo, or whatever web site your home page is set to be, and get the information and display the page for you.

That’s how all web pages are displayed a web browser application, something like Internet Explorer, is asked by a user, someone like you, to go get the information about a web page and display it. Sweet! Now we’re getting somewhere.

I hear ya’ thinkin’… What is this about “getting the information and displaying a web page,” why not just get the web page and show it to us? And as long as we’re on the subject, where is it getting this information/web page?

Web pages don’t exist as we view them on the Internet in our web browser application. Web pages exist as a group of files on a computer known as a “Web Server.”

One of the files, usually known as the “index” is a list of instructions that the web browser reads and follows to create and display the page that the user (you) have asked for. You ask for a page, usually, by clicking on a link to it.

The index file is a text file that contains the “code” as well as the text that is displayed on the page. The “code” is the special instructions that the browser application reads or “interprets.”

What the browser gets from the code in the index file is:

• Text on the page
• How the page is laid out
• How the text is displayed
• What images to place on the page
• Where to find the images

This arrangement would display a web page that only contained text and pictures aka images. Much more can be displayed or called but let’s keep it basic.

In the example, the Yahoo page, there are 12 main images and numerous small images. The images exist in a file folder on the server. They are just sitting there waiting to be displayed. When the browser reads the index file it is told which image to get, where the image is located in the file system and where to display it on the page.

I remember in a musical cartoon I watched as a kid the main character is dancing in the pyramids of Egypt, as he danced through one scene there were a pile of bones. The bones all assembled themselves into skeletons and danced along with him but as he left the scene they fell back into a pile of bones. I assume they would then just wait for another dancer to come along so they could reassemble and replay the scene.

That’s how I associate the technology of web pages and web browsers. The web page is a pile of files waiting for a user’s web browser to assemble and display them. There they are; a beautiful web page. When the user clicks away they fall back into a pile of files and wait for someone else to come along and reassemble and view them again.

There are a number of web browsers to choose from that can be downloaded free of charge from the Internet. So far I have only mentioned Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. That’s the one that comes pre-installed in all Windows based computers. If you have a Macintosh computer your web browser application is called “Safari.”

The three most popular “third party” web browsers are Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Google Chrome. Each has their sweet spots. I have all of them installed on my computer. I hear ya’, “five browsers on one computer? Maybe you ought to take a pill, Geek Boy!” I’m in treatment. Every time I fall off my meds I install another browser. Besides, I make web sites. I like to see what they look like in each of the browsers, each one interprets web pages a little differently, you know.

Technical note: I used the Yahoo page as an example because it is an interesting looking page. Not because it serves as a good example. Most of the main images are Flash or advertising generated and may very well come from several different servers across the Internet. The fundamental web page I describe really is how it’s done. Even the complicated stuff works along the same lines.

Technical note two: If you have question, comments or article requests; I would love to hear about them. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Remember www.forum.eeticket.com is waiting for your comments on current events in our area. Internet forums were the topic of the last Internet Workshop article. You can go to “Double E Ticket” and see what everyone is talking about.

Please inform your out of town friends and family that they can download The entire Community Newspaper as a Digital Edition. The Digital Edition contains everything the print edition does. Plus the photos are clearer.

Thanks for Reading me.