UNIT 1 (MWA)

Internet
Internet is a global network that connects billions of computers across the world
with each other and to the World Wide Web. It uses standard internet protocol
suite (TCP/IP) to connect billions of computer users worldwide. It is set up by
using cables such as optical fibers and other wireless and networking
technologies. At present, internet is the fastest mean of sending or exchanging
information and data between computers across the world.
It is believed that the internet was developed by "Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency" (DARPA) department of the United States. And, it was first
connected in 1969.

Why is the Internet Called a Network?

Internet is called a network as it creates a network by connecting computers and
servers across the world using routers, switches and telephone lines, and other
communication devices and channels. So, it can be considered a global network
of physical cables such as copper telephone wires, fiber optic cables, TV cables,
etc. Furthermore, even wireless connections like 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi make use of
these cables to access the Internet.

Internet is different from the World Wide Web as the World Wide Web is a
network of computers and servers created by connecting them through the
internet. So, the internet is the backbone of the web as it provides the technical
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infrastructure to establish the WWW and acts as a medium to transmit
information from one computer to another computer. It uses web browsers to
display the information on the client, which it fetches from web servers.

How does internet work?

The internet works with the help of clients and servers. A device such as a laptop,
which is connected to the internet is called a client, not a server as it is not
directly connected to the internet. However, it is indirectly connected to the
internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and is identified by an IP
address, which is a string of numbers. Just like you have an address for your
home that uniquely identifies your home, an IP address acts as the shipping
address of your device. The IP address is provided by your ISP, and you can see
what IP address your ISP has given to your system.

A server is a large computer that stores websites. It also has an IP address. A

place where a large number of servers are stored is called a data center. The
server accepts requests send by the client through a browser over a network
(internet) and responds accordingly.

To access the internet we need a domain name, which represents an IP address

number, i.e., each IP address has been assigned a domain name. For example,
youtube.com, facebook.com, paypal.com are used to represent the IP addresses.
Domain names are created as it is difficult for a person to remember a long string
of numbers. However, internet does not understand the domain name, it
understands the IP address, so when you enter the domain name in the browser
search bar, the internet has to get the IP addresses of this domain name from a
huge phone book, which is known as DNS (Domain Name Server).

For example, if you have a person's name, you can find his phone number in a
phone book by searching his name. The internet uses the DNS server in the same
way to find the IP address of the domain name. DNS servers are managed by ISPs
or similar organizations.
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Uses of the internet

Generally speaking, the Internet may be used to exchange information with
people all over the world, communicate across great distances, and locate
information or answers fast on almost any subject.

Here are some examples of specific uses for the Internet:

Using social media and content sharing.

Instant messaging, video conferencing, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Internet
telephony, and email are all examples of electronic communication. These
all are used through the Internet.
Access to online degree programs, courses, and workshops for education
and self-improvement.
Searching for jobs: To advertise available positions, submit job applications,
and hire candidates identified on social networking sites like LinkedIn, both
employers and applicants use the Internet.

Other examples include:

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Online dating
Online gaming
Research
Reading electronic newspapers and magazines
Online shopping, or e-commerce.
Online discussion groups and forums

Internet Connection Protocols

Protocols are a set of guidelines that aid in regulating the operation of any
specific organization or technology.

Three main categories of Internet Connection Protocols are discussed below:

o TCP/IP Network Model: The most popular protocols for linking networks
are Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP). Any
communication is split up into a number of packets that are sent from
source to destination.
o File Transfer Protocol: With the help of FTP (File Transfer Protocol), a user
can transfer documents, text files, multimedia files, program files, etc.,
from one device to another.
o Hypertext Transfer Protocol: It is used to move a hypertext between two
or more computers or other devices. Links can be made using HTML tags
and can take the form of text or graphics.

History of the Internet

The forerunner of the Internet, the ARPANet, went live for the first time in 1969.
The TCP/IP, open networking protocol suite, was adopted by the ARPANet in
1983, and the National Science Foundation Network (NSFN) developed the
network to link university computer science departments across the US in 1985.

When the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) was developed in 1989, it enabled
different computer platforms to connect to the same Internet sites, which
dramatically improved communications over the network. The Mosaic Web
browser was developed in 1993.
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Over the years of its existence, the Internet has remained a constant growth and
development. For instance, IPv6 was created to provide for a significant future
rise in the number of IP addresses that could be used. In a related development,
the Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the rapidly developing environment where
nearly any entity or device can be given a unique identifier (UID) and the
capability to communicate data automatically over the Internet.

Advantages of the Internet:

Instant Messaging: You can send messages or communicate to anyone
using internet, such as email, voice chat, video conferencing, etc.
Get directions: Using GPS technology, you can get directions to almost
every place in a city, country, etc. You can find restaurants, malls, or any
other service near your location.
Online Shopping: It allows you to shop online such as you can be clothes,
shoes, book movie tickets, railway tickets, flight tickets, and more.
Pay Bills: You can pay your bills online, such as electricity bills, gas bills,
college fees, etc.
Online Banking: It allows you to use internet banking in which you can
check your balance, receive or transfer money, get a statement, request
cheque-book, etc.
Online Selling: You can sell your products or services online. It helps you
reach more customers and thus increases your sales and profit.
Work from Home: In case you need to work from home, you can do it using
a system with internet access. Today, many companies allow their
employees to work from home.
Entertainment: You can listen to online music, watch videos or movies, play
online games.
Cloud computing: It enables you to connect your computers and internet-
enabled devices to cloud services such as cloud storage, cloud computing,
etc.
Career building: You can search for jobs online on different job portals and
send you CV through email if required.

Disadvantages of the Internet

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Time wastage: Although, Internet has a lot of advantages, it also contains
some limitations. Time wasting is one of among them. It can decrease your
productivity if you are spending too much time on the Internet using social
media apps while doing nothing. Rather than squandering time, one should
use that time to do something useful and even more productive.
Bad impacts on health: You can get health related issues if you spend too
much time online; your body needs outside activities, exercise, and many
other things. If you look at the screen for a long time, it causes negative
effects on the eyes.
Cyber Crimes: These days, crimes including cyberbullying, spam, viruses,
hacking, and data theft are increasing day by day. Cybercriminals can
quickly break into your system, which store all of your private information.
Effects on children: The constant watching of videos and playing games on
the Internet by young children is bad for their social and overall personality
development.
Bullying and spreading negativity: Social media applications have provided
a free tool to all those people who regularly attempt to spread negativity
with really repulsive and humiliating comments and try to bully each other,
which is wrong and does bad impact on society.

Difference between Intranet and Internet:

Internet Intranet
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It is a medium such as optical fiber cable that It is a small, private network as it
connects billions of computers with each other to belongs to a specific organization.
establish a worldwide network.

It has billions of users as it is a public network It has limited users.

with a worldwide presence.

It is not as safe as an intranet. It is a safer network than the

internet.

It can be assessed or used by anyone using an Only authorized persons can use
internet-enable devices, such as laptop, mobile this network.
phone, etc.

It offers a wide range of information, such as It offers limited information related

news, blogs, websites, etc. to its organization's work, policies,
updates, etc.

It is not owned by a single person or an It can be owned by a person or an

organization. organization.

World Wide Web

World Wide Web, which is also known as a Web, is a collection of websites or
web pages stored in web servers and connected to local computers through the
internet. These websites contain text pages, digital images, audios, videos, etc.
Users can access the content of these sites from any part of the world over the
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internet using their devices such as computers, laptops, cell phones, etc. The
WWW, along with internet, enables the retrieval and display of text and media to
your device.

The building blocks of the Web are web pages which are formatted in HTML and
connected by links called "hypertext" or hyperlinks and accessed by HTTP. These
links are electronic connections that link related pieces of information so that
users can access the desired information quickly. Hypertext offers the advantage
to select a word or phrase from text and thus to access other pages that provide
additional information related to that word or phrase.

A web page is given an online address called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
A particular collection of web pages that belong to a specific URL is called a
website, e.g., www.facebook.com, www.google.com, etc. So, the World Wide
Web is like a huge electronic book whose pages are stored on multiple servers
across the world.

Small websites store all of their WebPages on a single server, but big websites or
organizations place their WebPages on different servers in different countries so
that when users of a country search their site they could get the information
quickly from the nearest server.

So, the web provides a communication platform for users to retrieve and
exchange information over the internet. Unlike a book, where we move from one
page to another in a sequence, on World Wide Web we follow a web of hypertext
links to visit a web page and from that web page to move to other web pages. You
need a browser, which is installed on your computer, to access the Web.

How the World Wide Web Works?

Now, we have understood that WWW is a collection of websites connected to
the internet so that people can search and share information. Now, let us
understand how it works!

The Web works as per the internet's basic client-server format as shown in the
following image.
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The servers store and transfer web pages or information to user's computers on
the network when requested by the users. A web server is a software program
which serves the web pages requested by web users using a browser. The
computer of a user who requests documents from a server is known as a client.
Browser, which is installed on the user' computer, allows users to view the
retrieved documents.

All the websites are stored in web servers. Just as someone lives on rent in a
house, a website occupies a space in a server and remains stored in it. The server
hosts the website whenever a user requests its WebPages, and the website owner
has to pay the hosting price for the same.
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The moment you open the browser and type a URL in the address bar or search
something on Google, the WWW starts working. There are three main
technologies involved in transferring information (web pages) from servers to
clients (computers of users). These technologies include Hypertext Markup
Language (HTML), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Web browsers.

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML):

HTML is a standard markup language which is used for creating web pages. It
describes the structure of web pages through HTML elements or tags. These tags
are used to organize the pieces of content such as 'heading,' 'paragraph,' 'table,'
'Image,' and more. You don't see HTML tags when you open a webpage as
browsers don't display the tags and use them only to render the content of a web
page. In simple words, HTML is used to display text, images, and other resources
through a Web browser.

Web Browser:
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A web browser, which is commonly known as a browser, is a program that
displays text, data, pictures, videos, animation, and more. It provides a software
interface that allows you to click hyperlinked resources on the World Wide
Web. When you double click the Browser icon installed on your computer to
launch it, you get connected to the World Wide Web and can search Google or
type a URL into the address bar.

In the beginning, browsers were used only for browsing due to their limited
potential. Today, they are more advanced; along with browsing you can use them
for e-mailing, transferring multimedia files, using social media sites, and
participating in online discussion groups and more. Some of the commonly used
browsers include Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and
more.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP):

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol which enables
WWW to work smoothly and effectively. It is based on a client-server model. The
client is a web browser which communicates with the web server which hosts
the website. This protocol defines how messages are formatted and transmitted
and what actions the Web Server and browser should take in response to
different commands. When you enter a URL in the browser, an HTTP command is
sent to the Web server, and it transmits the requested Web Page.

When we open a website using a browser, a connection to the web server is

opened, and the browser communicates with the server through HTTP and
sends a request. HTTP is carried over TCP/IP to communicate with the server. The
server processes the browser's request and sends a response, and then the
connection is closed. Thus, the browser retrieves content from the server for the
user.
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Web Servers

Web pages are a collection of data, including images, text files, hyperlinks,
database files etc., all located on some computer (also known as server space) on
the Internet. A web server is dedicated software that runs on the server-side.
When any user requests their web browser to run any web page, the webserver
places all the data materials together into an organized web page and forwards
they back to the web browser with the help of the Internet. Therefore, we can
conclude that: -

“A web server is a dedicated computer responsible for running websites

sitting out on those computers somewhere on the Internet. They are
specialized programs that circulate web pages as summoned by the user. The
primary objective of any web server is to collect, process and provide web
pages to the users.”

This intercommunication of a web server with a web browser is done with the
help of a protocol named HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). These stored web
pages mostly use static content, containing HTML documents, images, style
sheets, text files, etc. However, web servers can serve static as well as dynamic
contents. Web Servers also assists in emailing services and storing files. Therefore
it also uses SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and FTP (File Transfer
Protocol) protocols to support the respective services. Web servers are mainly
used in web hosting or hosting the website's data and running web-based
applications.
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The hardware of the web servers are connected to the Internet that manages the
data exchange facility within different connected devices. In contrast, the
software of web server software is responsible for controlling how a user accesses
delivered files. Typically, web server management is an ideal example of the
client/server model. Therefore, it is compulsory for all computers that host
websites (whether with state or dynamic web page content) to have web server
software.

How do web servers work?

The term web server can denote server hardware or server software, or in most
cases, both hardware and software might be working together.

1. On the hardware side, a web server is defined as a computer that stores

software and another website raw data, such as HTML files, images, text
documents, and JavaScript files. The hardware of the web servers are
connected to the web and supports the data exchange with different
devices connected to the Internet.
2. On the software side, a web server includes server software accessed
through website domain names. It controls how web users access the web
files and ensures the supply of website content to the end-user. The web
server contains several components, including an HTTP server.
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Uniform Resource Locator

The term "URL" stands for Uniform Resources Locator. In general, a URL is nothing
more than but an address of a particular resource available on the web (or
Internet). Therefore every correct (or valid) Uniform Resource Locator (or URL)
points or refers to a particular resource available on the Internet. These resources
are usually the web-pages such as HTML pages, documents, images, etc. Although
some exceptions always exist, one of the most common being a URL that points
to (or refers to) a particular resource that is no longer available (or has been
moved to a new address).

However, the Web servers handle both the URL and the address of the resource
represented by the URL. Therefore, it is up to the owner (or one how has the
responsibility) of the webserver to carefully manage that resource and its
associated URL. Now let us see some examples which will help us to know how
a URL (or Uniform Resource Locator) actually looks like:

Examples of Standard URL

https://www.javatpoint.com/

https://www.javatpoint.com/python-tutorial
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These are some examples of standard URLs. Any of the given URLs can also be
directly typed into the web browser's search box to tell it to load that specific web
page.

Structure of the URL

To understand the structure of a URL more precisely, let's take a look at all its
essential parts:

HTTP

https://javatpoint.com/javascript-example

This part of the URL usually provides information about the mentioned protocol
used to access the web pages. Nowadays, HTTP is one of the most used
commonly used protocols. The HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. The
HTTP usually tells your browser to encrypt the information you entered on a web
page, such as passwords and credit card information, to ensure that the
cybercriminal cannot access that data. The primary purpose of using this protocol
is to protect the visitors on the website.

Domain name

https://javatpoint.com/javascript-example

The domain name is usually a human-readable name of a particular location

where the specific resources are located. In most cases, these resources are the
website itself.

TLD

https://javatpoint.com/javascript-example

The TLD stands for the Top Level Domain. It is used to categorize the websites
according to their content and other essential factors such as private,
government, educational, etc. One of the most common is the ".com" to which
almost everyone is familiar. However, there are other TLD that exist too. For
example, the ".edu" is for educational websites, ".gov" is used for the sites that
are run and owned by the government, etc.
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SUB directory

https://javatpoint.com/javascript-example

A URL also contains several other things, such as the folders, subfolders, and even
sub-directories present on a given website. Any parameters stored in the URL
allow the users to jump on a specific URL point in the resource. In addition, a
subdirectory also helps the users to know on which specific section of the web
page they are.

Tools and Web Programming Languages

Web Development Tools –

Web development is a continuous lifecycle involving multiple stages and

iterations. From choosing a programming language, an appropriate framework,
to finding a supportive webserver to host your application on, it requires a lot of
work.

Web development tools are designed to simplify and streamline the development
lifecycle for web developers without compromising on performance.

There are many types of rapid web app development tools available that support
and simplify a particular aspect of development.

Some of the most used tools by web developers are-

 External libraries like BootStrap –

They contain pre-written code snippets and templates that can be reused and
recalled in your code.

 Code editors like Sublime Text–

Come inbuilt with features such as syntax highlighting, debugger, and code auto-
completion that simplifies the code writing and editing process

 Version control systems such as GitHub

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Provides a central platform to manage and write code collaboratively.

 Database systems such as MySQL

Assists you in creating, editing and maintaining a database. You can also create
different queries to access databases.

 Server like Apache

Establishes a connection between the server and client browsers and processes
user requests.

 Task Runner like Grunt

Automates and performs repetitive tasks in your code so you don’t have to micro-
manage each task.

 Local Environment like Laragon

Create an environment on your PC to test and run your web apps and solutions
without requiring an internet connection or investing in web hosting

 Package Managers such as NPM

Helps you in downloading and installing dependencies of your frameworks and

libraries in the right way.

These are just some of the many tools available for web developers. Moreover,
with the evolving world of technologies, new web frameworks and tools are
being developed every day.

Even the existing tools to build apps are getting exciting new updates. It is
essential for your company to stay up to date with new tech and cater to ever-
advancing customers.

To help you find your ideal fit-out of the expansive pool of tools for the web, we
have curated a list of some of the best tools for web development, both frontend
and backend.
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These top web development tools are in use by thousands of developers, and we
assure you, you won’t regret using any of them.

Web Technology –
Web Technology refers to the various tools and techniques that are utilized in the
process of communication between different types of devices over the Internet. A
web browser is used to access web pages. Web browsers can be defined as
programs that display text, data, pictures, animation, and video on the Internet.
Hyperlinked resources on the World Wide Web can be accessed using software
interfaces provided by Web browsers.

Web Technology can be classified into the following sections:

World Wide Web (WWW): The World Wide Web is based on several
different technologies: Web browsers, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML),
and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
Web Browser: The web browser is an application software to explore www
(World Wide Web). It provides an interface between the server and the
client and requests to the server for web documents and services.
Web Server: Web server is a program which processes the network requests
of the users and serves them with files that create web pages. This exchange
takes place using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
Web Pages: A webpage is a digital document that is linked to the World
Wide Web and viewable by anyone connected to the internet has a web
browser.
Web Development: Web development refers to the building, creating, and
maintaining of websites. It includes aspects such as web design, web
publishing, web programming, and database management. It is the creation
of an application that works over the internet i.e. websites.

Web Development can be classified into two ways:

 Frontend Development: The part of a website that the user interacts directly
is termed as front end. It is also referred to as the ‘client side’ of the
application.
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 Backend Development: Backend is the server side of a website. It is the part

of the website that users cannot see and interact. It is the portion of
software that does not come in direct contact with the users. It is used to
store and arrange data.

Frontend Languages: The front-end portion is built by using some languages which
are discussed below:
 HTML: HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. It is used to design the
front-end portion of web pages using a markup language. HTML is the
combination of Hypertext and Markup language. Hypertext defines the link
between the web pages. The markup language is used to define the text
documentation within the tag which defines the structure of web pages.
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 CSS: Cascading Style Sheets fondly referred to as CSS is a simply designed
language intended to simplify the process of making web pages presentable.
CSS allows you to apply styles to web pages. More importantly, CSS enables
you to do this independent of the HTML that makes up each web page.
 JavaScript: JavaScript is a famous scripting language used to create magic on
the sites to make the site interactive for the user. It is used to enhancing the
functionality of a website to running cool games and web-based software.
 AJAX: Ajax is an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. It is used to
communicate with the server without refreshing the web page and thus
increasing the user experience and better performance.
There are many other languages through which one can do front-end development
depending upon the framework for
example Flutter user Dart, React uses JavaScript and Django uses Python, and
much more.
Backend Languages: The back end portion is built by using some languages which
are discussed below:
 PHP: PHP is a server-side scripting language designed specifically for web
development. Since PHP code executed on the server-side, so it is called a
server-side scripting language.
 Node.js: Node.js is an open-source and cross-platform runtime environment
for executing JavaScript code outside a browser. You need to remember that
NodeJS is not a framework, and it’s not a programming language. Most
people are confused and understand it’s a framework or a programming
language. We often use Node.js for building back-end services like APIs like
Web App or Mobile App. It’s used in production by large companies such as
PayPal, Uber, Netflix, Walmart, and so on.
 Python: Python is a programming language that lets you work quickly and
integrate systems more efficiently.
 Ruby: Ruby is a dynamic, reflective, object-oriented, general-purpose
programming language. Ruby is a pure Object-Oriented language developed
by Yukihiro Matsumoto. Everything in Ruby is an object except the blocks but
there are replacements too for it i.e. procs and lambda. The objective of
Ruby’s development was to make it act as a sensible buffer between human
programmers and the underlying computing machinery.
 Java: Java is one of the most popular and widely used programming
languages and platforms. It is highly scalable. Java components are easily
available.
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 JavaScript: JavaScript can be used as both (front end and back end)
programming.
 Golang: Golang is a procedural and statically typed programming language
having the syntax similar to C programming language. Sometimes it is termed
as Go Programming Language.
 C#: C# is a general-purpose, modern and object-oriented programming
language pronounced as “C sharp”.
 DBMS: The software which is used to manage database is called Database
Management System (DBMS).

Web Standards

Web standards are defined as technologies that are used in building websites.
Web Standards consist of technical documents known as specifications, which
provide detailed information on how web technology should work. These
documents are really helpful for engineers in making web applications in a more
efficient manner for the users.
Need for Web Standards –
After the creation of the web, it was accessible by people by using a computer
system, at that time only a handful of systems were there to access the web but
with the rise of technology the way people access the web changed completely.
Now people use different types of devices like mobile phones, tablets, laptops,
desktops, etc. There are even more devices like interfaces provided in vehicles
for navigation and smart speakers using speech. Moreover, screen sizes are also
different when accessing the web and different operating systems are also
available along with a number of web browsers. All of this has made it quite
different for everyone to access the same web in a different manners on
different devices.
Hence it becomes a need to make certain standards while developing websites
so that those websites work smoothly on all devices with different
configurations. Web standards form the foundation of rules and regulations for
the developers for developing websites.
Components of Web Standards
1. W3C recommendations for HTML, CSS, and also for different image formats to
be used in websites.
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2. Living Standards provided by Web Hypertext Application Technology Working
Group (WHATWG), these standards consist of Document Object Model
Standard, URL Standard, Encoding Standards, etc.
3. JSON standards are given by ECMA International.
4. Recommendations of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Open Standards
Tim Berners-Lee and representatives of the W3C organization had given the most
precious feature of Web Standards which says that the web will always be free for
use and also for the contribution by developers means it will not limit itself by
patent rights or licensing. Because of this feature, everyone is independent to
write code for building websites without paying anything to anyone. Because of
its openness, there is no chance of censorship means a single organization cannot
control it.
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
The credit for maintaining and creating new web standards goes to World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C) which is considered the main organization. A number of
standards have been defined by W3C which includes different languages that are
used in making websites like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.
Any website will be considered to follow the given web if that website or web
page has correct HTML and CSS. These languages also need to comply with
semantic and accessibility procedures.
Features of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
1. Web for All: It is the main goal of (W3C) to make web service accessible to all
people, no matter what their software or hardware configuration is, and also
no matter where they live. This feature helps people worldwide to connect and
communicate with each other.
2. Web on Everything: This feature ensures that each and every device can easily
access the web because people are using a large variety of devices and
interfaces like mobiles, tablets, smart assistants, etc.
3. Web of Easy Interaction: Websites should be easy to load and must be
interactive so that users don’t feel bored. It should be built by keeping in mind
the interest of users.
4. Web of Trust: The web should be secure and must win the trust of its users so
guidelines are made to use various security measures like SSL certificates for
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websites, HTTPS protocol which is more secure than HTTP, and many other
measures which reduce the risk of attacks on these websites.

Web Application
A web-application is an application program that is usually stored on a remote
server, and users can access it through the use of Software known as web-
browser.

It is a type of computer program that usually runs with the help of a web browser
and also uses many web technologies to perform various tasks on the internet.

A web application can be developed for several uses, which can be used by
anyone like it can be used as an individual or as a whole organization for several
reasons.

In general, a web application can contain online shops (or we can also say them e-
commerce shops), webmail's, calculators, social media platforms, etc. There is
also some kind of web application that usually requires a special kind of web
browser to access them. We cannot access those kinds of web applications by
using regular web- browsers. However, most of the web applications available on
the internet can be accessed using a standard web browser.

The Flow of the Web Application

Let's understand how the flow of the typical web application looks like.
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1. In general, a user sends a request to the web-server using web browsers

such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, etc. over the internet.
2. Then, the request is forwarded to the appropriate web application
server by the web-server.
3. Web application server performs the requested operations/ tasks
like processing the database, querying the databases; produces the result
of the requested data.
4. The obtained result is sent to the web-server by the web application server
along with the requested data/information or processed data.
5. The web server responds to the user with the requested or processed
data/information and provides the result to the user's screen.

Categories of Web Applications

We can categorize web applications as follows:

 Document centric web application

 Interactive web application
 Transactional web application
 Work-flow based web application
 Collaborative web application
 Portal-oriented web application
 Ubiquitous web application
 Knowledge-based web application
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Document centric web application

Document centric web sites are static html documents stored on web server that
is sent directly to the client on request. The web pages are manually updated with
the help of respective tools. These applications are static, simple, stable and take
less time to respond. These applications are costly to maintain (at the time of
update), having inconsistency problem because of being static, no timely update
of information.

Interactive web application

Interactive web applications are offered by CGI, HTML Forms. It includes radio
buttons, selection menus, forms etc. These applications are simple and fast. In
this kind of application the web pages and links are generated according to user
input.

Transactional web application

These kind of web applications have facility of modification by user. These

applications are more interactive and support structured queries from database.
The database system handle data consistently and efficiently.

Work-flow based web application

These kind of web applications are capable of handing the workflow among
companies, private authorities or public authorities. Web services are included for
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interoperability. It is robust, reliable and flexible to handle workflow with
autonomy of companies. B2B e-commerce solutions are best example of such
applications.

Collaborative web application

These kind of applications are mainly used as group applications where group
communications are important part. Chat rooms, online forums, e-learning
websites or websites where information are shared with option of editing like
Wikipedia are some examples of such web application.

Portal oriented web application

This kind of web applications are those where single access point is there to
separate different sources of information and services. Search engines,
community portals etc. are best examples of portal oriented application.

Ubiquitous web application

These kind of applications provides customized facilities for any device from
anywhere at any time. It has limited interaction facility and support limited
device. It require advance knowledge of context where the web application is
being used for dynamic adjustment. Services based on location is an example of
such web application.

Knowledge-based web application

This kind of application is used for providing knowledge for

both human and machine. The knowledge management is based on semantic web
technologies. Mining the web, linking and reusing knowledge are a few examples.

Characteristics of web applications

 Product related characteristics
 Use related characteristics
 Development related characteristics
 Evolution related characteristics
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Product related characteristics

It is the integral part of web application. It consists of: Present, Hypertext, and
Content.

1. Present - Presentation plays an important role in product marketing and

survival. Looks and feel is the first impression for the success and failure of
application in this competitive market. The application must be attractive,
impressive and according to fashion trend going on in market.
2. Hypertext - Hypertext is the base of web application. The basic elements of
hypertext are: link, node and anchor. It implements Non linearity, cognitive
overload and Disorientation features in application that makes the
application highly interactive and improve the performance.
3. Content - Content is the informational part. Content generation,
integration and updating and availability is an important factor. It contains
document, table, text, graphics, and multimedia. It must be of high quality,
reliable, consistent and up-to-date. The documents must be properly
arranged.
Use related characteristics

It is difficult to predict the usage frequency of a web application because is varies

according to the user, devices used by the users etc. we can divide the user
related characteristics of web application as: Natural content, Social content and
Technical content.

1. Natural Content - It includes the geographical location from where the web
applications are accessed and availability of the web application. Global
accessibility of web application with 24*7 availability improves the
performance, stability and demand of the web application.
2. Social Content - It is related to user specific aspect. There are thousands of
competitive web applications around the globe, the user need spontaneous
and immediate benefits. Scalability and multiculturalism are extremely
essential feature required for web application.
3. Technical Content - It is related to network of web application and the
devices where web application are used. Connection bandwidth, stability,
reliability etc. are some essential features that affect the performance of
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web application. Device specification, browser configuration, version etc.
are responsible for web application performance and accessibility.
Development related characteristics

It includes: Development team, Development process, Technical infrastructure

and Integration.

1. Development Team - Development team must be highly knowledgeable in

their field. There must be proficient designers, database developers, IT
experts, hypertext experts, application developers. The team members
must be knowledge freaks, willing to work, innovative and interested in
latest technology and tools.
2. Development Process - The development process must be flexible. There
must be parallel processes of development.
3. Technical Infrastructure - The web application must be bugs free and
development should be under time limit. Server and Browser are the two
external components that should be considered at the time of
development. As the use of browser is not exactly known, it depends on
user preference, server is usually configured and operated as desired.
4. Integration - The web application must have support for integration with
already existing system or with external content and services.
Evolution related characteristics

As per the changes in requirements there occurs some changes or upgradations in

the web application. This evolution may concern all the other three characteristics
viz. Product, Use and Development. Market competition or short time
development may cause the changes.

Web Application Architecture

The definition of web app architecture is broad and depends on the focus of
building web applications.
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A web application architecture is a model of interaction between web application
components. The kind of architecture for web application strictly depends on the
way application logic will be allocated among client and server sides.

Technically, it’s the skeleton of a web app, including its elements, databases,
systems, servers, interfaces, and all the communication happening between
them. In more abstract terms, it indicates the logic behind responses to client and
server requests.

When it comes to business benefits, web application architecture is related to the

process of creating web applications and planning for their needs in terms of
speed, scalability, and security.

Importance of the Web App Architecture

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Improved customer satisfaction: Investing in web application software
architecture, or a solid blueprint of its functioning, is needed from the standpoint
of user experience.

Being an important part of developing any web app, it makes sure your design is
efficient and scalable, which means it will work well under a variety of conditions
and avoid downtime. Otherwise, a business app will irritate users with numerous
bugs and turn them away from cooperating with it.

Greater business results: The right web application architecture can save your
company time and money over the long term, making sure that your website
operates at its optimal capacity and runs smoothly without any problems.

In particular, web application system architecture allows web developers to

create websites that scale well as traffic increases; it also provides features such
as offline access (e.g., Google Docs) that are increasingly expected by today’s
consumers.

Better app performance: A solid web app architecture introduces a great degree
of flexibility, meaning its adaptiveness to dynamic market fluctuations and
customer demands.

The vision on the overall structure makes it easier for developers to work on an
app in several modules and introduce new features without interrupting the web
app’s work.

Enhanced app security: By envisioning a web app as a system of several blocks,

modern web application architecture protects each of its structural elements
separately.

This way, overall security increases, making the software stand all the common
safety threats like malicious attacks.

Single Tier Architecture – Generally single tier architecture is used for small
applications in which there is one server (both the backend and the frontend) and
Single-tier deployment is cost-effective.

But having all the resources on the same machine can create an availability and
security risk. If the server is down, the application will be down, and it will not
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communicate with the database. If the server is externally attacked, you are at
greater risk of data loss if you do not have a replica of your database.

The typical architecture of diagram of Single-Tier Solution looks like this:

Two Tier Architecture – The two-tier architecture is like client server application.
The direct communication takes place between client and server. There is no
intermediate between client and server. Because of tight coupling a 2 tiered
application will run faster.

The Two-tier architecture is divided into two parts:

1. Client Application (Client Tier)

2. Database (Data Tier)
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On the client application side the code is written for saving the data in the SQL
server database. Client sends the request to the server and it processes the
request & sends it back with data. The main problem of two tier architecture is
the server cannot respond to multiple requests at the same time, as a result it
causes a data integrity issue.

It’s also called server-client technology.

Three Tier Architecture (Multi-Tier Architecture or N – Tier Architecture) –

Three-tier architecture is a well-established software application architecture that

organizes applications into three logical and physical computing tiers: the
presentation tier, or user interface; the application tier, where data is processed;
and the data tier, where the data associated with the application is stored and
managed.

The chief benefit of three-tier architecture is that because each tier runs on its
own infrastructure, each tier can be developed simultaneously by a separate
development team, and can be updated or scaled as needed without impacting
the other tiers.

For decades three-tier architecture was the prevailing architecture for client-
server applications. Today, most three-tier applications are targets
for modernization, using cloud-native technologies such as containers and micro-
services, and for migration to the cloud.
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Presentation tier

The presentation tier is the user interface and communication layer of the
application, where the end user interacts with the application. Its main purpose is
to display information to and collect information from the user. This top-level tier
can run on a web browser, as desktop application, or a graphical user interface
(GUI), for example. Web presentation tiers are usually developed using HTML, CSS
and JavaScript. Desktop applications can be written in a variety of languages
depending on the platform.

Application tier (Business Logic Tier)

The application tier, also known as the logic tier or middle tier, is the heart of the
application. In this tier, information collected in the presentation tier is processed
- sometimes against other information in the data tier - using business logic, a
specific set of business rules. The application tier can also add, delete or modify
data in the data tier.

The application tier is typically developed using Python, Java, Perl, PHP or Ruby,
and communicates with the data tier using API calls.
Data tier
The data tier, sometimes called database tier, data access tier or back-end, is
where the information processed by the application is stored and managed. This
can be a relational database management system such as PostgreSQL, MySQL,
MariaDB, Oracle, DB2, Informix or Microsoft SQL Server, or in a NoSQL Database
server such as Cassandra, CouchDB or MongoDB.

In a three-tier application, all communication goes through the application tier.

The presentation tier and the data tier cannot communicate directly with one
another.

Tier vs. layer

In discussions of three-tier architecture, layer is often used interchangeably – and
mistakenly – for tier, as in 'presentation layer' or 'business logic layer.'
They aren't the same. A 'layer' refers to a functional division of the software, but a
'tier' refers to a functional division of the software that runs on infrastructure
separate from the other divisions. The Contacts app on your phone, for example,
is a three-layer application, but a single-tier application, because all three layers
run on your phone.
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The difference is important, because layers can't offer the same benefits as tiers.