Do you know how the internet works? Briefly explained.

Hi! So I will be briefly sharing my understanding on how the internet works. Honestly, I have never even given this a thought. I just know, I've really enjoyed using the internet.

Recently, I got the opportunity to be enrolled in a front end development mentorship cohort organized by Code Clan Nigeria community (codeclannigeria.dev) and I'm super thankful about this exciting learning opportunity.

This platform is giving me the privileges to kick start my journey to learning front end development. I'm currently on my first task and will briefly share my knowledge on how the internet works as earlier mentioned.

Outline What is the internet? IP Address *Encryption & public keys

The Internet. Do you know the internet was invented? Yes, it was and I did not know this. It was invented by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, great minds! You can read up more on them. The internet has no central control but links so many devices together around the world. It operates by following a set of protocols with rules and standards. The internet is uniquely designed in a way that ensures that everyone using a device/computer has a specific address. This unique address called Internet Protocol address forms the basis for every user's internet communication.

So, it is safe to say that it is impossible for people to communicate or visit a website on the internet without a internet protocol address.

IP Address. These aren't entirely physical addresses like one will think but they are bunch of organized numbers represented in bits. There are 2 versions. 1) IPv4 - this was when IP addresses were 32 bits long with 8 bits for each parts of the address. Here, the country one is in and network used are identified. 2) IPv6 - this version enables more devices to have unique IP addresses. It uses 128 bits per address.

Encryption & Public Keys Since the internet is public and everyone uses it, it is important that users can successfully send information safely. Encryption explains how one transfers information safely or helps one sends a private document secretly. When encrypted data is sent to a receiver, a process called decryption enables the received information to be well understood.

Notably, devices or a computer uses asymmetric mode of encryption. Asymmetric in the sense that the internet is public used and so this is when public keys are exchanged between anybody with a private key that is not shared. The private key is used to decrypt the encrypted data.

Public key is used to encrypt data and anybody can use it to create a hidden message. So, it is only when a device or computer has access to a private key that it is able to decrypt a secret/hidden data.

I hope this brief understanding of mine has addressed how the internet works to an extent.

Thank you.