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Computer Science
How the internet actually works
What happens between typing a URL and the page appearing — packets, DNS, TCP, TLS, the works.
8 lessons
~100 min total
First principles
What you'll learn
Trace what happens when you type a URL, start to finish
Know what DNS, TCP, HTTP, and TLS each do
Understand why the internet keeps working despite having no central authority
Progress
0 / 8
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Lessons
1
The internet is just packets
Small pieces of data, moving independently, reassembled at the end.
3 objectives
2
Who is who: IP addresses
Every machine on the internet needs a number — the politics of who gets one.
3 objectives
3
DNS: the internet's phone book
From google.com to 142.251.x.x — and why that translation is surprisingly fragile.
3 objectives
4
TCP, UDP, and what "connection" means
Reliable vs fast — pick one.
3 objectives
5
HTTP, simply
A plain-text conversation that somehow powers the web.
3 objectives
6
TLS and why you trust that lock
Encrypting your traffic and proving the server is who it says it is.
3 objectives
7
How packets actually find their way
Routers, BGP, and why the internet has no map.
3 objectives
8
CDNs and why distance matters
The speed of light is slow when you are streaming 4K.
3 objectives
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