Blog
Thoughts on engineering, design, and building great products.
How Networking Works: What Happens When You Open a Web Page
Series kickoff: trace a request's journey when you type a web address — from DNS resolution, the TCP handshake, TLS encryption, to HTTP and the response. Each leg is its own article ahead, assembled into a complete picture of networking.
HTTP and HTTPS
The language of the web: the request/response structure, methods (GET/POST...), status code groups (2xx/3xx/4xx/5xx), headers, and the evolution from HTTP/1.1 → 2 → 3. HTTPS is HTTP plus encryption. Observed live with curl -v.
Tracing a Request End to End
The final article: putting everything together to trace a complete https:// request — from DNS resolution, routing, the TCP handshake, TLS encryption, to HTTP and the response — with real per-phase timing. Plus a series wrap-up.