Journal 1: Chapters 1-3 of Learning Web Design

Robbins, J. (2012). Learning web design: A beginner's guide to HTML, CSS, Javascript, and web graphics (4th ed., pp. 3-45). Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly.

Summary/Reflection:
          I go on websites all day long, but I've never thought about WHY or HOW a website works. This week's readings of Chapters 1-3 has been an eye-opener into how it all works. In Chapter 1, I took a look at how websites are developed through website development firms made up of people who each have a specific job in creating a website. Sometimes, however, it might be one person taking on all of the roles and responsibilities to make a website function and looking aesthetically pleasing to its viewers.
         I've been using the Internet for as long as I can remember, I mean the Web. Wait the Internet and the Web aren't the same thing? In Chapter 2, I learned that the Internet is when computers are connected through a network that shares information from one computer to another computer at the most general level. The Web also known as the World Wide Web is a way for information to be shared over the Internet by using HTTP.
          In Chapter 3, under "The Need for Speed (Site Performance)" section it was important to think about when building a website that you need to make sure that file sizes are small and that you want to reduce "the number of requests to the server"  in order to have a website load quickly for a viewer to see. Each time there is a new file, the Internet is requesting a file from the server for the information to go back to the computer.

Q1. There are three processes that are involved in developing the design of a website. What are they and how do they help to make-up a web's design?

A1. Authoring/markup is when all of the HTML tags that make-up the content as well as the function of the webpage is being prepared to be sent to the Web. It is telling the website the different pieces of the document that should be shown such as the heading, paragraphs, and any lists. How the website will look is done through CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). It tells what fonts, colors, images, layouts, etc. of how the page should look to the viewer. The last process is the scripting and programming of the site. Javascript is used for different gadgets or widgets like drop-down menus on the site.

Q2. How is a viewer able to see a browser display a web page?

A2. When a viewer types in a URL into the search bar of their Internet browser, the Internet browser asks the HTTP to go to the server connected to the URL for the files related to that URL. Once the server finds the file for the URL, the server sends it back to the Internet browser. For every element needed in the HTML document, the Internet browser will continue to ask the server for each image, CSS, and script needed in order for the Internet browser to correctly display the web page of the URL. If when the server is first looking for files connected to the URL and cannot find the files, then the viewer will receive an error message on their Internet browser.