The internet is continuously evolving and browsers have had to keep pace with it. While this is true, there are a few aspects of browsers which haven’t changed and will hope never change, because of their sheer simplicity. Knowledge of these terms is very fundamental for every internet user irrespective of age.  So we present to you a brief explanation of all such important elements of web browser.

Few of The Most Common Elements Of Web Browser:

Term #1: Add-ons (or) Extensions:

Just like the names suggest, these are an extension or addition to your browser features. They come in handy to customize your web browser the way you want it to be. With time, the number of add-ons (or) extensions has grown significantly, offering users wide variety of facilities all packed into the web browser.

For instance, the ‘Fastest Chrome’ extension helps enrich your web experience. Don’t ask me if it’s going to speed up your internet; but surely Fastest Chrome extension is capable of providing definitions of words you highlight in a pop-up.

Term#2: Bookmark:

Bookmark is technically called URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) and helps store links in the browser. These links can be provided with suitable description and stored in your browser. Each browser has a specific tool in them for managing these bookmarks.

It is the best solution for remembering those long strands of URLs of sites you wish to revisit later. Each browser has its own way of treating bookmarks.

But if you want to find your bookmarks, simply type the name of your bookmark in the address bar and you will get it.

Term#3: Cookie:

Also known as browser cookies or web cookies, these are simple encrypted text files which store browsing habits of users within a website. These are common and in spite of few questions have always remained malware free.

Once you visit a website for the first time, the website places small text files into your local drives. Next time you visit that particular website, it identifies you based on these cookies. These are like double-edged swords with advantage to both the websites and the users. While it helps websites provide better facilities to users, it can also help websites understand browsing patterns of its visitors.

Term#4: Download:

There’s nothing so technical about this particular browser element, with almost every internet user downloading stuff from somewhere on the internet.

For understanding sake, we clarify what it means: a download means to copy data (music, videos or photos) present in some computer over the network (say a server hosting a website) to your computer. And uploading is considered to be the exact opposite thing to downloading.

Term #5: Domain Name:

Generally, in a network every computer needs to have a specific identity. And in a network so big as the address, this identification is the IP Address. It is something like a 128 bit binary number and remembering a website address in that form is really difficult.

Due to this there is a Domain Name System (DNS) which translates these domain names into IP Address for computers to understand.

Term #7: Web Cache:

It is the process which involves caching (method of temporary storage) of web documents. This storage can be performed by various systems.

Web caching anyways is aimed at reducing bandwidth usage, the extra load on server and the lagging effect on slow internet connections.

Term #8: URL:

The URL (Uniform Resource Locater) is that piece of code that is displayed in your browser’s address bar. Like the name indicates, it contains the exact pathway to a resource.

You can take a quick look at the URL of this page above in the address bar as,

onlinecmag.com/basic-elements-of-web-browser

These are few important elements of browser we come across more often in our daily internet usage. Do comment and help us grow…..