Web Fundamentals

Before we start building applications with frameworks like Flask, FastAPI, and Django, you need to understand how the web actually works.

This module gives you the mental model behind everything you’ll build later.

Why This Matters

Frameworks abstract a lot of complexity. If you don’t understand what’s happening underneath, you’ll eventually get stuck.

In this module, you’ll learn:

• How browsers communicate with servers
• What happens when you visit a website
• How data moves across the internet
• How APIs connect different systems

What You’ll Learn

• How the web works end-to-end
• Client vs server responsibilities
• HTTP and how requests are structured
• The request–response cycle
• Common HTTP methods and status codes
• What APIs are and how they are used
• How JSON is used to exchange data

How This Connects to the Course

Everything in this course depends on these concepts.

• Flask routes handle HTTP requests
• FastAPI builds structured APIs
• Django processes requests and returns responses

Once you understand this layer, the rest of the course becomes much easier.

Outcome

By the end of this module, you will understand how web systems communicate and be ready to start building your first backend applications.

Let’s begin.