1. URL Parsing and DNS Resolution When you type a URL into the browser, it first parses the URL into components (protocol, domain, path, etc.). The browser checks its cache, the operating system cache, or a DNS server to resolve the domain name (e.g., www.example.com) into an IP address. 2. Establishing a Connection Using the resolved IP, the browser initiates a connection to the server. If the protocol is HTTPS, a TLS handshake occurs, involving authentication, encryption key exchange, and establishing a secure channel. For HTTP, it’s a plain TCP connection (usually on port 80). 3. Sending an HTTP(S) Request The browser sends an HTTP request (e.g., a GET request) specifying the resource path, headers, cookies, and other metadata. 4. Server Processing and Response The web server processes the request, potentially interacting with backend services or databases. It then returns an HTTP response containing a status code, headers, and typically HTML content. 5. Browser Rendering Pipeline Once the response arrives, the browser rendering engine begins to work: Parsing HTML → builds the DOM (Document Object Model). Parsing CSS → builds the CSSOM (CSS Object Model). JavaScript Execution → via the JS engine, which can manipulate the DOM/CSSOM. Render Tree Construction → combines DOM and CSSOM into a visual structure. Layout (Reflow) → calculates element positions and sizes. Painting → fills in pixels for text, colors, images, borders, etc. Compositing → layers are combined and drawn to the screen. 6. Loading Additional Resources If the HTML references external CSS, JavaScript, images, or fonts, the browser issues additional requests (in parallel where possible). Caching and preloading strategies optimize performance. 7. User Interaction and Continuous Rendering JavaScript may dynamically modify the page (DOM manipulation, AJAX calls). The rendering engine continuously updates the screen when layout or style changes occur.