Web Design Fundamentals and Internet Applications
How the web fits together
A website is a set of related pages; the home page is the entry page. Pages sit on a web server and are found by domain name, which DNS translates into an IP address. The browser requests a page using HTTP or the encrypted HTTPS, and the server returns HTML, CSS, images and scripts.
HTML and CSS
HTML is markup, not a programming language. Skeleton: html, head (with title), body. Content tags: h1–h6 for headings (one h1 per page), p for paragraphs, a href for links, img src with alt for images, ul/ol/li for lists, table for tabular data. CSS styles the markup and can be inline, internal (a style block in head) or external (.css linked in head) - external is preferred for reuse.
Using the internet well
A browser renders pages; a search engine indexes them. Refine searches with quotes for exact phrases and site: to limit a domain. Check the URL: https and a padlock mean encrypted traffic, not that the site is honest. Keep a small digital footprint, respect copyright, and never share passwords or OTPs.
Worked example
Break down https://www.example.co.in/students/list?year=2024 https = protocol; www.example.co.in = domain, with .in the country-code top-level domain; /students/list = path to the resource; ?year=2024 = query string parameter.
Traps
- Confusing HTTP with HTML, or a domain name with an IP address.
- Believing a padlock guarantees a genuine seller.
- Putting all styling inline, then editing every page by hand.
- Omitting alt text, which breaks accessibility.