Two questions, beginner's openings &"line"

True beginner's questions:  A term that gets used a lot in describing the result of various openings is  "line".  After playing over 300 games and trying various openings, a lot of  the time with bad results,  I'm still not sure what "line" actually means.  The only thing I can come up with is does it mean some sort of evolving pattern or sequence of moves?

In looking for recommended simple openings there are some differences of opinion.  Seems to me anything that gets your pieces developed and castled without sustaining significant damage is good but a lot of times that's easier said than done.  I'm willing to consider any that other beginners find good more often than not.

Line normally refers to the mainline (most popular move/sequence of moves or book theory), followed by side lines and even sharp lines if it exist.

I've been studying hard on a few openings in the last 3 months and learn it is very important to understand the theme and concepts of an opening because it explains the strategies and objectives.

I wouldn't worry about opening theory at this point until you learn opening principles and do rated puzzles to gain your tactical knowledge. Those two things alone will get you to 1200.

Strictly speaking, a line refers to any sequence of moves, which could occur at any point in a game.  A variation is a specific initial and well-defined sequence of moves of an opening, which has been played frequently enough that it has been given a name.  Thus an opening may be, and typically is, comprised of several, if not many variations.  However, the terms are sometimes loosely used interchangeably.

Chess Openings Resources for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/openings-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

Openings are like trees, they branch and branch and then branch again, it's not unusual to have a variation of a variation, etc. Each variation has a little story based on its history, and the reasons behind the moves, the long (strategy) and short (tactical) of what it's trying to achieve. I find the story telling aspect not only helps my chess, as the same patterns appear repeatedly, but is a useful way to help remember/recall the moves.

a line refers to a certain sequence of moves. for example, this is a line

it can also deviate like this

those are both lines of one opening variation, in this case, the Muzio gambit. 

I hope that made sense

Thanks to all for the info.  Pretty sure I don't know enough to utilize it yet or ever will but I have a better idea of what a"line" is.

Here's a better example of what lines look like. These are all lines from the Benko gambit

Came here to ask a question and found some theory that might help me in the future

*answer... I don't wanna edit my thing rn sorry it takes a while to load

if you're actually gonna use that, column 5 move 7 should be d6 instead of g6. weird error from the IM who made the book

eh at one point I'll look at the 100s of threads I've followed to find the ones with info. I already have some threads with entire BOOKS on the Benoni listed soooo Who knows, maybe I can beat you with the Benoni...

you deffo can lol. just started learning Benko and I dont know Benoni after that

can't do Benko without Benoni. First you have to go into the Czech Benoni (my personal favorite) then you have to wait for c4 from them, then b5 a6 lines appear... but if they do a setup with a4 a5 and a Knight on c4 (almost speeled it as Night) then you're toast without some prep or experience... at least in the position I have in my empty head somewhere... 

i mean id just play g6 bg7 and prevent e5 and do my thing. got too much on my plate to spend a few hours studying Benoni but i promise i eventually will lol

That's the idea of the modern Benoni, just go e6 and take on d5, then g6 Bg7 and yeah, you're fine... I mean I literally started playing Benoni after watching a youtube video and only learning after d4 to go c5 soooooooo

lol ill have to open the book later and learn some Benoni line now. I hope there's some without Fianchetto tho that would be interesting

Yeah in the Czech Benoni (same lines as the Benko) where you play for b5 (and rarely f5 or a5) and try to trade your bad bishop. It's very fun, I've won a lot of games with it