Web Browser Definition

The web browser definition is straight-forward. It’s a program on your computer that allows you to connect to the Internet to visit websites, download files, and applications. The web browser is one of the most important applications on your computer. Hence, it comes as a default program when you purchase a computer. The most popular web browsers are Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera.

You can launch the web browser of your computer by clicking on its icon. Once the web browser is launched you can enter the web address of the website you want to visit, search for the information, news, watch videos online and download files and applications to your computer.

How does a web browser work?

Now that you know the web browser definition, how does it work? To access any resources on the Internet through the web browser you need to first provide the uniform resource locator (URL) or the web address of the particular resource. The resource could be a website, search engine, software application, media content such as image, audio, and video or any other file. When you type in an URL, the browser issues a hypertext protocol command called “get” to find the resource located in the given URL. The resource you are trying to locate is usually hosted in a remote machine connected to the Internet. When the browser issues the “get” command, the remote machine receives the command and returns the required resource to the web browser. The browser accepts the file or the resource processes it and then displays it to the user.