Connection comes before content
The browser resolves the domain, establishes a secure connection, and sends the request. Reused connections and cached answers can shorten these steps on later visits.
The response can lead elsewhere
A successful response can return the document, but a redirect asks the browser to request another address. An error status explains that the resource was missing, access was denied, or the server could not complete the work.
A familiar example
Following an old bookmark
- The browser requests the saved address.
- The server redirects it because the page moved.
- The browser requests the new address and receives the current document.
What to remember
- A page load has ordered network steps.
- Redirects create another request instead of returning the final page.
- Status codes describe outcomes; they are not the page content itself.