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To answer how to get an URL in detail would need understanding of the 7 layers of OSI, sockets, http/ftp/etc, SSL, html layout, keepalive, etc etc. The answer should be a really informative about how much someone understand (and check architecture grokking). [Edit: I might try this, thanks!]

Cons are: It is specific to web people, of course. And not really a programming question.

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true, it is not about programming, but how much programming does a programmer do? this is over a phone interview and I hate asking actual "type this code" in phone interviews. The way I view this question is the way I view, say, a carpenter. A carpenter must know the different types of wood, the milling technique, etc. Of course, they don't need to know it to any great extent, but have a rough idea because in the course of their work they might come across something new to them, and need to rely on the fundamentals.

On the other hand, it's a good question to see how someone handles limited or lacking knowledge, because knowing everything about an HTTP request down to the wire is hard. There is just so much going on in that stack by now.

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