Web Browsers Article

Introduction

A Web Browser is a software application for accessing information on the World Wide Web. Each individual web resource, such as a Web page, image, or video, is identified by a distinct Uniform Resource Location (URL), enabling browsers to retrieve these resources from a web server and display them on a user device's monitor.

A Web Browser is not the same thing as a search engine, though the two are often confused. For a user, a search engine is just a website, such as Google Search, that stores searchable data about other websites, but to connect to a website's server and display its web pages, a user must have a web browser installed on their device.

As of March 2019, more than 4.3 billion people user a browser, which is about 55% of the world's population. The most popular browsers are Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer (I dont know why) and Microsoft Edge.

The first web browser was named "WorldWideWeb" and it was created in 1990 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee along with a few of his associates. It was made in 1990 and released in 1991.

Features

Refresh Button - This is used to force to reload webpages, most major web browsers use caching mechanism that sometimes prevents seeing the most updated information, by clicking refresh, latest version of the page is forcefully reloaded.

Home Button - Loads predefined home page.

Integrated search - You can use a search bar to search for anything you want, usually the resuls will appear in the same tab.

Stop Button - Cancels web browser's communication with a server and stops page loading.

Bookmark Buttons - Bookmarking websites i.e. saving them for use later via their urls.

Tabs - Browser tabs allow opening many websites on a single web browser's window - very helpful when reading several websites at the same time, i.e. if you want to open several links from a website without losing it, you can right click on each link you want to see, and select open in a new tab option.

Address Bar - This is used to enter the website url you put in. It will also work as a dropdown menu which shows all the previously visited sites.

Pros/Cons

Each web browser has their pros and cons:

Pros	Cons
Internet Explorer
There arent any pros, let's be honest, you should use any of the other top browsers or even niche ones.	Too slow, too basic, most advanced web features don't work, such as transforms and animations, without compatibility.
Firefox
Blocks phishing and other dangerous softwares easily. Navigates the pages quickly. It doesn't eat up all the system resources.	It is challenging to find bookmarks. The landing page has many ads and a lot of recommended links.
Google Chrome
Chrome is available and accessible across many platforms. Easy synchronisation to many devices.	The desktop version of Chrome doesn't navigate that fast. It uses up a lot of memory as the files are large. It uses more system resources when compared to others.
Opera
Introduction of additional features like Turbo. It has an integrated ad blocker which can be disabled if needed. Uses the same base as Google Chrome.	Opera doesn't get easily recognized by the older websites, which may block your access to them. It has fewer plugins than its competitors. It doesn't have parental control or web blocking.
Microsoft Edge
It is very fast. It has a built-in reading mode.	It is not backward compatible. It doesn't have a vast extensions library.

Extra Programs

Web Browsers - Google Chrome, Safari, Opera, Firefox, Micosoft Edge
Devices and OS - Android, Windows, Linux, Chromium, Apple (IOS)
Front End Web Techs - HTML, CSS, JavaScript
Web Protocols - RESTful, Soap.
Other - Internet, Intranet, Web Architecture, Layout Engines

Sources

Summary

In conclusion:

Web browsers are are very useful to use... well they are a must as they are used for browsing the web. Depending on what device you use and what OS you use and your personal preference the best web browser usually differs from person to person. But looking at the stats around 60% of people use Google Chrome, which is more than the other web browsers combined. Google Chrome is a good choice, but I myself prefer Firefox since they are strictly private and are less controlling than Google.