🚀 Week 1: Laying the Foundation – How the Internet and Web Development Work

Welcome back to Week 1 of my 12 Weeks SDE Journey! This week was all about setting the stage. I explored the very basics of how the internet functions and how websites are created, focusing on 5 key topics. Here’s what I learned — explained with real-world examples and beginner-friendly breakdowns!

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🌐 1. How the Internet Works – The Digital Postal System

Imagine you're sending a letter to a friend:

• You write it, put it in an envelope, write the address, and drop it in a mailbox.

• The post office routes it to your friend’s house.

• Your friend receives the letter and reads it.

Now, think of your web browser as the sender. When you type www.google.com:

• Your request is the letter.

• The DNS (Domain Name System) is like the post office directory — it translates “google.com” into an IP address.

• The Internet carries that request as data packets.

• Google’s server receives it and sends back a response (the webpage).

🧠 Key Concepts:

• Client: Your browser

• Server: Where the website lives

• HTTP/HTTPS: Rules for sending and receiving

• IP Address: The internet's version of a home address

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💻 2. Web Development Languages – Building a House

Imagine you’re constructing a house:

• HTML is the structure – the walls and layout.

• CSS is the interior design – the paint, fonts, and styling.

• JavaScript is the electricity and plumbing – the things that make it do stuff.

🧪 Example:

<button onclick="alert('Hello!')">Click Me!</button>

• HTML creates the button.

• JavaScript adds interaction when it’s clicked.

🧠 3. Programming Basics – Teaching a Robot

Programming is like giving super-specific instructions to a robot.

For example, to get a robot to:

• Pick up a glass

• Pour water

• Stop when it’s full

You’d have to write every step in a language it understands.

🧩 What is Common in every programming language:

• Variables: Store data

• Functions: Reusable blocks of logic

• Conditionals: Making decisions (if/else)

• Loops: Repeating actions

🧪 Example in JavaScript:

=> in JavaScript

let name = "Learner";
if (name === "Learner") {
  console.log("Welcome back, Learner!");
}

=> In Python
name = "Learner"
if name == "Learner":
 print("Welcome back," + name + "!")

The above example prints Welcome back , Learner!

It is just the language (Syntax) that we use is different, the concepts are the same.
- Variable here is name is used to store the value called string (dataType).
- By using if Condition we are saying the system / Console that if the person name is Learner, then only Print Welcome back , Learner!

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👨‍💻 4. Role of a Software Engineer – More Than Just Coding

When i was a kid, I used to think engineers just wrote code, but there’s so much more to it:

• Understanding problems

• Designing efficient systems

• Collaborating with designers, testers, and managers

• Writing clean, maintainable code

• Continuous learning

They’re part-architect, part-strategist, and full-time problem solvers.

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🍽 5. Front-End vs. Back-End vs. Full-Stack – The Restaurant Analogy

Think of a website like a restaurant:

• Front-End Developer = Waiter + Menu Designer (the visuals, layout, buttons)

• Back-End Developer = Chef + Kitchen Staff (the logic, database, server)

• Full-Stack Developer = Does it all

🔧 Technologies:

• Front-End: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, etc

• Back-End: Node.js, Python, Java, MongoDB, SQL

• Full-Stack: Both ends combined

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That is all for today, In the next post lets know about some popular programming languages, its advantages and what is the best programming language for web development and what i will be using in this series.

Stay Tuned!!!!