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Lesson 6 of 8

The big picture

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3 min

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The five ideas, in order:

How a page reaches you: five ideas, one trip
IdeaRemember
NetworksA message travels along a path of working links. If one path is cut, it uses another, if there is one.
A web addressThe part before the slash names the computer. The part after it names the page.
Asking and answeringYour phone sends a request. A server sends an answer. Each piece of a page needs its own.
SearchA search reads an index built earlier. It lists only pages the engine has visited.
Cables and radioRadio carries the short first hop from a phone. Cables carry most of the rest.

You tap. A request leaves by radio, then travels on by cable. The request goes from one computer to the next. A server sends the page back, in pieces.

If you searched first, your words were matched against a list. The engine wrote that list before you asked.

Where is a page before you ask for it? On another computer, waiting for a request.