How Do Internet Browsers Work?

Internet browsers are one of the applications that we use many times every day. We write the name of a website in the address bar and the site we want appears in a few seconds. Internet browsers that seem to work so easily are actually products with very complex working principles and subsystems that create miracles in seconds.

Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Opera are the most used internet browsers in the world and carry 95% of internet traffic. Although the user interfaces look quite different, all internet browsers work on similar principles. We answered the question of how internet browsers work for you and explained what you need to know in the simplest way.

How Do Internet Browsers Work?

An internet browser accepts the URL (link, link) information typed in the address bar, calls the URL resource, processes the contents in the resource and displays it for the user. For internet browsers, it would not be wrong to say that it is a bridge between the source and the user.

Accordingly, we can evaluate the working principle of internet browsers in four basic categories: accepting and calling the URL resource, processing and redirecting the resource, displaying the resource for the user, and storing the content taken from the resource. Each of the four categories work with different subsystems.

Navigating Resource

The content in the source to which the URL information, that is, the link you type in the address bar of your internet browser, is located in a wide network layer. When the user types the URL information and presses the search button, the internet browser calls the resource using HTTP / FTP protocols from within the network layer.

By means of a subsystem called the rendering infrastructure, the data of the content in the source begins to come to the internet browser in bytes. The Internet browser caches some data on the source website so that it can be accessed more easily by the user later on.

Renger Engine:

Internet browsers, which call the data from the source from the network layer with the URL information, start to process the data they receive for the user. There are three different subsystems used when processing the resource. These; rendering engine, JavaScript engine and backend system.

The rendering engine processes the data from the source received from the network layer and makes it visible. The rendering engine mainly processes HTML, XML and image files. Each internet browser may use a different rendering engine. Google Chrome and Opera use the Blink, Mozilla Firefox Gecko, Microsoft Edge EdgeHTML, Safari uses the WebKit rendering engine.

The render engine translates the source code into a visible object called a DOM tree. The DOM tree is the most basic form of the source data. With the help of other subsystems, this tree becomes a display of CSS properties, colors, and background.

JavaScript Engine:

The rendering engine renders the DOM tree by rendering simple files such as HTML, XML, and images, while the JavaScript engine processes the JavaScript code and initiates the rendering process. Of course, throughout this whole process, the backend system manages the database, makes server settings and ensures that the system works in the most efficient way.

Each internet browser may use a different JavaScript engine. Google Chrome Chrome V8, Safari JavaScriptCore, Mozilla Firefox SpiderMonkey, Microsoft Edge uses the Chakra JavaScript engine.

While the JavaScript engine processes JavaScript data in the memory stack, it organizes the operations performed on the call stack. The JavaScript engine performs basic operations in these two stacks, such as fetching and organizing data, analyzing data and processing times, optimizing the process, collecting garbage data. Google's Chrome V8 JavaScript engine is one of the most successful engines in garbage data collection.

View Source:

The resource view category is the point at which the user encounters the resource. The data called from the network layer with the URL information was processed by the rendering engines and it was time for the user to view the source. Internet browsers are using interfaces and browser engines at this point.

Interfaces presented to the user by internet browsers allow users to control the source data. The address bar, forward and back buttons, save, open and close buttons and the main screen where the source data is displayed are the user interfaces of internet browsers. Since there is no standard in this regard, every internet browser can use a specially designed interface.

The browser engine subsystem is the subsystem that enables the user to view the data processed by the rendering engine and the JavaScript engine, and to control the internet browser by the user. That is, the browser engine is the system that allows the user to interact with the resource one-on-one.

Storing Content:

Every internet browser has a limited data storage capacity to store some data of the resource while viewing the content in the resource. The data recorded here are the data taken to the interface of the internet browser in case of disconnection with the network layer and the data cached so that the user can access the resource more easily the next time.

Data stored by internet browsers includes data such as local files, session data, cookies, WebSQL data, IndexedDB files, AppCache data, and service files. This stored data is available in the interface and continues to be viewed by the user even if communication with the network layer is lost.

Local files and session data generally consist of keys of JavaScript objects. Unless this data is specially cleaned, it continues to be stored in the storage area of the internet browser. Storage limits are set at an average of 5 MB per object and 50 MB per site.

Cookies are key data sent by the source. They are exchanged between client and server. Cookies are important in terms of privacy and security, even if they cause some performance problems. WebSQL data, IndexedDB files are essential for performance. Service files are a way for Google to use website data offline.

All in All, How Do Internet Browsers Work?

To summarize the working principle and complex subsystems of internet browsers; Internet browsers reach the source in the network layer with the URL information written in the address bar, the data in the source is processed and displayed by the rendering engine and JavaScript engine with the help of the backend system, the processed data is stored in the user interface of the internet browser and controlled by the user through the browser engine.

We answered the question of how internet browsers work for you and explained the details you need to know in the simplest way. It is impossible not to be surprised by the working principle and complex subsystems of internet browsers, which easily reveal the internet world to us with a single touch.

Source: webtekno.com