How Websites Work
What actually happens between typing an address and seeing a page — DNS, servers, HTML, and the round trip in between.
Beginner8 min readDaksh Bathla03
Development
How websites, APIs, databases, and deployments work — explained without assuming a computer science degree.
5 LESSONS
Frontend vs Backend
The split isn't visible versus invisible. It's which computer the code runs on — and that single fact explains almost every rule that follows from it.
Beginner6 min readDaksh BathlaWhat Is an API?
An API is a defined way for one program to ask another for something. Once you can read one request, you can read most of them.
Beginner7 min readDaksh BathlaWhat Is a Database?
A database is a program whose entire job is storing data so it survives, stays consistent, and can be found again quickly.
Beginner7 min readDaksh BathlaWhat Happens When You Deploy a Website?
Deploying is moving code from your machine to one the public can reach. Here's every step in between, and where it usually goes wrong.
Beginner8 min readDaksh BathlaRELATED DEFINITIONS
APIApplication Programming Interface
A published set of requests one program will accept from another, and the responses it gives back. It defines what you can ask for without exposing how it's done.
DNSDomain Name System
The system that translates a domain name people can remember into the numeric address a computer connects to. The internet's phone book.
CDNContent Delivery Network
A network of servers in many locations that keeps copies of your files, so a visitor is served from somewhere physically near them instead of from one origin server.
PWAProgressive Web App
A website built so it can be installed to a phone's home screen and behave like an app — working offline, launching without browser chrome, and sending notifications where supported.