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MODULE 03: INTRODUCTION TO WORLD WIDE WEB

INSTRUCTOR: EDAN A. BELGICA

INTRODUCTION TO WORLD WIDE WEB

Introduction

The World Wide Web (WWW), often called the Web, is a system of interconnected webpages and
information that you can access using the Internet. It was created to help people share and find
information easily, using links that connect different pages together. The Web allows us to browse
websites, watch videos, shop online, and connect with others around the world through our
computers and phones.

All public websites or web pages that people may access on their local computers and other devices
through the internet are collectively known as the World Wide Web or W3. Users can get further
information by navigating to links interconnecting these pages and documents. This data may be
presented in text, picture, audio, or video formats on the internet.

What is WWW?

WWW stands for World Wide Web and is commonly known as the Web. The WWW was started by
CERN in 1989. WWW is defined as the collection of different websites around the world, containing
different information shared via local servers(or computers).

Web pages are linked together using hyperlinks which are HTML-formatted and, also referred to as
hypertext, these are the fundamental units of the Internet and are accessed through Hypertext
Transfer Protocol(HTTP). Such digital connections, or links, allow users to easily access desired
information by connecting relevant pieces of information. The benefit of hypertext is it allows you to
pick a word or phrase from the text and click on other sites that have more information about it.

What is the Internet?

The Internet is a globally connected network system facilitating worldwide communication and access
to data resources through a huge collection of personal, public, business, academic, and government
networks. it’s governed by agencies just like the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (or IANA) that
establish universal protocols.
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History of the WWW

It is a project created, by Tim Berner Lee in 1989, for researchers to work together effectively at
CERN. It is an organization, named the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which was developed
for further development of the web. This organization is directed by Tim Berner’s Lee, aka the father
of the web. CERN, where Tim Berners worked, is a community of more than 1700 researchers from
more than 100 countries. These researchers spend a little time on CERN and the rest of the time they
work at their colleges and national research facilities in their home country, so there was a
requirement for solid communication so that they can exchange data.

System Architecture

From the user’s point of view, the web consists of a vast, worldwide connection of documents or web
pages. Each page may contain links to other pages anywhere in the world. The pages can be
retrieved and viewed by using browsers of which internet explorer, Netscape Navigator, Google
Chrome, etc are the popular ones. The browser fetches the page requested interprets the text and
formatting commands on it, and displays the page, properly formatted, on the screen.

Working of WWW

A Web browser is used to access web pages. Web browsers can be defined as programs which
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. Initially, Web
browsers were used only for surfing the Web but now they have become more universal.

The below diagram indicates how the Web operates just like client-server architecture of the internet.
When users request web pages or other information, then the web browser of your system request to
the server for the information and then the web server provide requested services to web browser
back and finally the requested service is utilized by the user who made the request.
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Features of WWW

• WWW is open source.

• It is a distributed system spread across various websites.

• It is a Hypertext Information System.

• It is Cross-Platform.

• Uses Web Browsers to provide a single interface for many services.

• Dynamic, Interactive and Evolving.

Components of the Web

There are 3 components of the web:

• Uniform Resource Locator (URL): URL serves as a system for resources on the web.

• Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP): HTTP specifies communication of browser and
server.

• Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML): HTML defines the structure, organization and
content of a web page.

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. For a website, a URL is basically where the website
lives online and it helps visitors to identify the site easily as well as get an idea about its contents.

A typical website has at least 3 parts in its URL like www.google.com but some complex URLs
might also have 8 to 9 parts namely scheme, subdomain, domain name, top-level domain, port
number, path, query, parameters, and fragment.
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COMPONENTS OF URL

1. Scheme:

https://

The protocol or scheme part of the URL and indicates the set of rules that will decide the
transmission and exchange of data. HTTPS which stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
Secure tells the browser to display the page in Hyper Text (HTML) format as well as encrypt
any information that the user enters in the page. Other protocols include the FTP or File Transfer
Protocol which is used for transferring files between client and server, SMTP or Single Mail
Transfer Protocol which is used for sending emails.

2. Subdomain :

https://www.

The subdomain is used to separate different sections of the website as it specifies the type of
resource to be delivered to the client. Here the subdomain used ‘www’ is a general symbol for
any resource on the web. Subdomains like ‘blog’ direct to a blog page, ‘audio’ indicates the
resource type as audio.

3. Domain Name:

https://www.example.

Domain name specifies the organization or entity that the URL belongs to. Like
in www.facebook.com the domain name ‘facebook’ indicates the organization that owns the site.

4. Top-level Domain:

https://www.example.co.uk

The TLD (top-level domain) indicates the type of organization the website is registered to.
Like the .com in www.facebook.com indicates a commercial entity. Similarly, .org indicates
organization, .co.uk a commercial entity in the UK.

5. Port Number:

https://www.example.co.uk:443

A port number specifies the type of service that is requested by the client since servers often
deliver multiple services. Some default port numbers include 80 for HTTP and 443 for HTTPS
servers.

port 443 is the standard port for HTTPS, the secure version of HTTP.
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6. Path:

https://www.example.co.uk:443/blog/article/search

Path specifies the exact location of the web page, file, or any resource that the user wants
access to. Like here the path indicates a specific article in the blog webpage.

7. Query String Separator:

https://www.example.co.uk:443/blog/article/search?

The query string which contains specific parameters of the search is preceded by a question
mark (?). The question mark tells the browser that a specific query is being performed.

8. Query String :

https://www.example.co.uk:443/blog/article/search?docid=720&hl=en

The query string specifies the parameters of the data that is being queried from a website’s
database. Each query string is made up of a parameter and a value joined by the equals (=)
sign. In case of multiple parameters, query strings are joined using the ampersand (&) sign. The
parameter can be a number, string, encrypted value, or any other form of data on the database.

9. Fragment:

https://www.example.co.uk:443/blog/article/search?docid=720&hl=en#dayone

The fragment identifier of a URL is optional, usually appears at the end, and begins with a hash
(#). It indicates a specific location within a page such as the ‘id’ or ‘name’ attribute for an
HTML element.

HTTP

HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. It is the main way web browsers and servers
communicate to share information on the internet. Tim Berner invents it. HyperText is the type of
text that is specially coded with the help of some standard coding language called HyperText
Markup Language (HTML). HTTP/2 is the new version of HTTP. HTTP/3 is the latest version of
HTTP, which is published in 2022.

When you visit a website, HTTP helps your browser request and receive the data needed to
display the web pages you see. It is a fundamental part of how the internet works, making it
possible for us to browse and interact with websites. In this article, we are going to discuss the
Full form of HTTP along with its working, advantages, and disadvantages.
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What is the Full Form of HTTP?

HTTP stands for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol.” It is a set of rules for sharing data on the World
Wide Web (WWW). HTTP helps web browsers and servers communicate, allowing people to
access and share information over the internet.

Key Points

• Basic Structure: HTTP forms the foundation of the web, enabling data communication
and file sharing.

• Web Browsing: Most websites use HTTP, so when you click on a link or download a file,
HTTP is at work.

• Client-Server Model: HTTP works on a request-response system. Your browser (client)

asks for information, and the website’s server responds with the data.

• Application Layer Protocol: HTTP operates within the Internet Protocol Suite, managing
how data is transmitted and received.

What is HyperText?

The protocol used to transfer hypertext between two computers is known as HyperText Transfer
Protocol. HTTP provides a standard between a web browser and a web server to establish
communication. It is a set of rules for transferring data from one computer to another. Data such
as text, images, and other multimedia files are shared on the World Wide Web. Whenever a web
user opens their web browser, the user indirectly uses HTTP. It is an application protocol that is
used for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems.

Working of HTTP [HyperText Transfer Protocol]

First of all, whenever we want to open any website we first open a web browser after that we will
type the URL of that website (e.g., www.facebook.com ). This URL is now sent to the Domain
Name Server (DNS). Then DNS first checks records for this URL in their database, and then DNS
will return the IP address to the web browser corresponding to this URL. Now the browser is able
to send requests to the actual server.

After the server sends data to the client, the connection will be closed. If we want something else
from the server we should have to re-establish the connection between the client and the server.
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What is an HTTP Request?

HTTP request is simply termed as the information or data that is needed by Internet browsers for
loading a website. This is simply known as HTTP Request.

There is some common information that is generally present in all HTTP requests. These are
mentioned below.

• HTTP Version

• URL

• HTTP Method

• HTTP Request Headers

• HTTP Body

HTTP Request Headers

HTTP Request Headers generally store information in the form of key-value and must be present
in each HTTP Request. The use of this Request Header is to provide core information about the
client’s information, etc.

HTTP Request Body

HTTP Request Body simply contains the information that has to be transferred. HTTP Request
has the information or data to be sent to these browsers.
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HTTP Method

HTTP Methods are simply HTTP Verb. In spite of being present so many HTTP Methods, the
most common HTTP Methods are HTTP GET and HTTP POST. These two are generally used in
HTTP cases. In HTTP GET, the information is received in the form of a website.

HTTP Response Headers

HTTP Response headers are simply like an HTTP Request where it has that work to send some
important files and data to the HTTP Response Body.

HTTP Response Body

HTTP Responses are the responses that are received successfully upon the request. Generally, it
comes under the requests generated by the web. In most cases, the request is to transfer the
HTML data into a webpage.

What is an HTTP Status Code?

HTTP Status Codes are the 3-digit codes that tell the message or simply tell us about the HTTP
Request whether it has been completed or not. There are simply 5 types of status codes.

• Informational responses (100–199)

• Successful responses (200–299)

• Redirects (300–399)

• Client errors (400–499)

• Server errors (500–599)

References:

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/world-wide-web-www/

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/components-of-a-url/

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/http-full-form/