Every backend you build sits at one end of a conversation. Before writing any server code, it helps to know how that conversation works: how a browser finds your server, what it says, and how the answer gets back.
The client-server model splits the work: a client, usually a browser or an app, sends a request, and a server sends back a response. The rules for that conversation are HTTP: methods such as GET and POST, headers, and status codes. DNS turns a domain name into the IP address of the server, and HTTPS wraps the conversation in encryption so it can't be read or altered on the way.
Your code has to run somewhere too. Web hosting is where a server lives, from shared hosting to VPS and cloud platforms. Watch the lessons in order, then continue on to Pick a Backend Language.
A big-picture explainer on how the internet works, before the deeper lessons on HTTP, DNS, and HTTPS that follow.
The core concepts of HTTP: how requests and responses work, what status codes mean, and how APIs and REST build on top of them.
An animated walkthrough of what a DNS server is and how it works, including the resolver and root server levels.
What SSL, TLS, and HTTPS are, how they relate, and how they secure the connection between a browser and a server.
The main types of web hosting and how to tell which one fits a given need.
A step-by-step look at what happens between pressing Enter on a URL and seeing the page, tying together the pieces from this module.