What happens when you type a URL into a browser and hit Enter?

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The browser finds the server, asks it for the page, and renders what comes back, in a fixed sequence of small steps.

It parses the URL into scheme, host and path.
It resolves the hostname into an IP address through DNS.
It opens a TCP connection to that server on the right port. For HTTPS, a TLS handshake then sets up encryption.
It sends an HTTP request for the path. The server replies with a status code and usually an HTML body.
It parses the HTML and fetches the stylesheets, scripts and images it finds, often over the same connection. Then it renders the page.

Each step adds delay, so a slow page usually has one clear culprit, and knowing the sequence tells you where to look first.

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If no cache has the answer, how does DNS turn the hostname into an IP address? Browser and OS caches first, then a recursive resolver asking root, TLD and authoritative servers, with the answer cached for its TTL.
What does the TLS handshake set up before the first HTTP request goes out? The browser checks the server's certificate against a trusted CA, the two sides agree on a cipher suite, and a key exchange gives them shared session keys.
The page loads slowly. How do you work out which step is to blame? Split the time into DNS, connect, TLS, time to first byte and download, using dev tools timings, then fix the biggest slice first.
What does the browser skip or shorten when you visit the same site again? Cached DNS answers, a reused or resumed connection, and assets served from cache or revalidated with Cache-Control and ETag.
How does HTTP/2 change the way the browser fetches the page's stylesheets and scripts? One TCP connection carries many requests at once as interleaved streams. Requests stop waiting in line, and the browser needs fewer connections.

The browser finds the server, asks it for the page and renders what comes back, and it does that as a fixed sequence of small steps.
First it splits the URL into scheme, host and path, then asks DNS to turn the hostname into an IP address.
It opens a TCP connection to that IP on the right port, and for HTTPS a TLS handshake then sets up encryption.
It sends an HTTP request for the path, and the server replies with a status code and usually an HTML body.
The browser parses that HTML, fetches the stylesheets, scripts and images it finds, often over the same connection, and renders the page.
Every step adds delay, so a slow page usually has one clear culprit, and knowing the order tells me where to look first.

Jumps straight to the HTTP request Skipping DNS, TCP and TLS leaves out how the browser finds and reaches the server, and each of those steps adds delay. Name them in order.
Recites the OSI layers instead of the steps Seven layer names answer a different question. Walk the steps the browser actually takes, in order, and name the protocol each one uses.
Stops once the HTML arrives The browser still has to parse the HTML, fetch stylesheets, scripts and images, and render. Those fetches add delay of their own, so include them.
Lists the steps with no sense of cost A bare list sounds memorized. Say that each step adds delay and that knowing the order tells you where to look when a page is slow.

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