Web Browsing
Core concepts
A web browser requests pages from web servers using URLs. Know the parts of a URL: scheme (https), host/domain name, optional port, path, and query string. Understand the difference between a browser, a search engine, and a website: the browser is the client software; a search engine is a website you visit. Candidates should recognise common browser features: address bar, back/forward, refresh, home page, bookmarks/favourites, history, tabs, private/incognito mode, downloads, and clearing cache/cookies.
Traps in questions
- Confusing a bookmark (saved link) with a home page (the page opened at startup).
- Assuming private browsing hides activity from an employer or ISP; it only avoids local history storage.
- Mixing up downloading (server to your device) with uploading (your device to a server).
- Forgetting that https and a padlock indicate an encrypted connection, not that the site is trustworthy.
Rule of thumb
Read a URL right-to-left for trust: the registered domain sits just before the first single slash. In login.bank.example.com the domain is example.com, so anything before it is a subdomain and may be controlled by someone else.
Worked example
A link reads https://secure-pay.example.net/verify. The scheme is https, the host is secure-pay.example.net, and the registered domain is example.net. The word "secure" in the subdomain proves nothing; judge the site by the registered domain and the padlock together.