Summary of Web Server Concepts and Examples

A web server is a piece of software that serves web content and can run on any device with a network connection.

A web server listens on a port for requests sent via a transport protocol and returns a response containing the requested resource.

Web servers communicate with web clients using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which is based on text.

HTTP requests and responses are structured into three blocks: start line, headers, and body.

Web servers use TCP as the underlying transport layer protocol to ensure data packets are successfully received.

Web servers can serve static content by returning files from a folder or dynamically generate content by routing requests to a web application that interacts with a database.

routing in web servers involves connecting a request with the requested resource, which can be static or dynamic.

Static routing serves actual files from a folder, while dynamic routing involves generating content based on user input or database queries.

Speakers/sources

— 07:43 — « Jim never places an outgoing call, he just waits and listens. »

— 12:39 — « Determining which resource to return is referred to as routing. »

— 17:44 — « The entire dynamic web application is only 45 lines long. »