In this episode of Bits and Specs, we break down RFC 1035, the foundational document that defines the Domain Name System (DNS) — the protocol that turns human-friendly names like google.com into machine-routable IP addresses. We explore how DNS queries and responses work, what recursion and caching really mean, and how this 1987 spec still powers the modern internet, APIs, AI agents, and everything in between. From root servers to TTLs, you’ll never look at a URL the same way again.

🧠 This episode was researched and drafted using Google NotebookLM with RFC 1035 as the primary source.