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A web page is a document on the internet.

Platypus article on Vector 2022
Platypus article on Vector 2022

You see these pages in a web browser. Many pages link together to form a website. Think of a website like a real book. Each web page is like a single paper page. All these pages stay under one common domain name. This makes it easy to find a whole group of pages.

Dead Zone Campaign (2658313491)
Dead Zone Campaign (2658313491)

Each page has its own special address. This is called a URL, or Uniform Resource Locator. You type this address into the browser's address bar. Then, the browser finds a web server to get the content. The server sends the data back to you. The browser turns that data into a picture on your screen. If you click a link, the browser starts over. It finds the new URL and shows a new page.

Dead Zone Campaign (2658313491)
Dead Zone Campaign (2658313491)

Web pages use special code to work. The main part is a text file called HTML. This is HyperText Markup Language. It tells the page what text or video to show. Next, there is CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets. This tells the page how to look. Many pages also use JavaScript programs. These programs let the page do many different things. Some new pages even use a language called WebAssembly.

Platypus article on Vector 2022
Platypus article on Vector 2022

Some pages are called static pages. The server sends these exactly as they are stored. Other pages are called dynamic pages. The server must create these on the fly. It might read from a database to fill a template. A search engine results page is a dynamic page.

Platypus article on Vector 2022
Platypus article on Vector 2022

This is a very fast way to make a page. The most complex pages are called web apps. They combine all these different parts together.

Staying safe online is very important. Browsers use a way called HTTP to get pages. This is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol. Many sites use a secure version called HTTPS. This is an encrypted mode. It helps stop other people from eavesdropping on you. Another tool is the Content Security Policy. This helps protect against cross-site scripting attacks. Most mainstream browsers support both of these safety features.

Platypus article on Vector 2022
Platypus article on Vector 2022
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