Four status codes, no career change required

Websites talk to browsers in short codes. You do not need to collect them. Four cover almost every bad afternoon.

200 — it worked

The page or the file arrived. This is the boring one. You never see it because the site just… appears.

301 — it moved, on purpose

The address changed and the old one is supposed to forward you. Bookmarks should still work. If they do not, someone moved the furniture and forgot the sign.

404 — there is no such page

Not “the internet is down.” Not “your computer is broken.” That exact address does not exist, or no longer does. Check the spelling. Then assume the site deleted it and did not leave a note.

500 — their computer had a bad day

The site exists. The request reached it. Something behind the curtain failed. Refreshing sometimes works because the bad day was one second long. If it lasts, it is not on you.

If a support chat asks you to “clear your cache” for a 500, they are reading from a script. The 500 already said whose computer it was.