Chapter 1: Fundamentals of Web

Content:
Introduction to the Internet, The World Wide
Web, Web Browsers, Web Servers, Uniform
Resource Locators, Hypertext Transfer
Protocol, Security, Web Programmer’s
Toolbox
Introduction to the Internet
History of Internet
The US Department of Defense awarded
contracts as early as the 1960s, including for
the development of the ARPANET project,
directed by Robert Taylor and managed
by Lawrence Roberts.

In 1969, ARPAnet delivered its first message: a

“node-to-node” communication from one
computer to another.
• By 1985, the ARPANET was heavily used and
congested. In response, the National Science
Foundation (NSF) initiated phase
one development of the NSFNET.

• The NSFNET was composed of multiple

regional networks and peer networks.
• In 1995 a small part of NSFNET returned to a
big research network and turned to the
evolution of internet.
ARPANET -
Advanced Research Projects Agency Network

NSFNET –
National Science Foundation Network
What is internet?
• The Internet, is a worldwide system of
computer networks.It is also called as network
of networks in which users using one
computer can, get information from any other
computer located at various locations.

• The computers communicate with each other

using the transmission control protocol (TCP)
standard to enable fast exchange of
information and files.
Computer Network Types
1.LAN – Local Area Network
2.MAN- Metropolitan Area Network
3.WAN – Wide Area Network. Ex : Internet
4.PAN - Personal Area Network
Local Area Network
• A local area network (LAN) is a collection of
devices connected together in one physical
location, such as a building, office, or home.
• A LAN can be small or large, ranging from a
home network with one user to an enterprise
network with thousands of users and devices
in an office or school.
• LAN covers limited area which is less than 1
km.
Advantages:
1. Data transmits at a very fast rate as the
number of computers linked is limited.
2. inexpensive hardware (Such as hubs and
Ethernet cables).
Disadvantages:
1. Limited geographical coverage.
2. Limited scalability and may require significant
infrastructure upgrades to accommodate
growth.
MAN
• Metropolitan area Network covers a larger
area than that covered by a LAN and a smaller
area as compared to WAN.
• MAN has a range of 5-50km. It connects two
or more computers reside in the same or
different cities.
Advantages:
1. Provides high-speed connectivity over a larger
geographical area than LAN.
2. Can be used as an ISP for multiple customers.

Disadvantages:
1. Can be expensive to set up and maintain.
2. May experience congestion and network
performance issues with increased usage.
WAN
Wide Area Network is a computer network that
extends over a large geographical area. WAN has
a range of above 50 km.

A WAN could be a connection of LAN connecting

to other LANs via telephone lines and radio
waves .
Advantages:
1. Covers large geographical areas and can
connect remote locations.
2. Provides connectivity to the internet.
3. Offers remote access to resources and
applications.
4. Can be used to support multiple users and
applications simultaneously.
Disadvantages:
1. Can be expensive to set up and maintain.
2. Offers slower data transfer rates than LAN or
MAN.
PAN
• A personal area network (PAN) is a computer
network for interconnecting electronic devices
within an individual person's workspace.
• A PAN provides data transmission among
devices such as computers, smartphones,
tablets.
Advantages:
1. It needs easy setup and relatively low cost.
2. It does not require frequent installations and
maintenance
Disadvantages
1. Low network coverage area/range.
2. Devices are not compatible with each other.
World wide web (www)
• World Wide Web is defined as collection of
information which is accessed via the Internet.

It uses http protocol to access the information.

It was invented by Tim-Berners Lee in 1989.

Difference between Internet and WWW :
Internet WWW
• It is collection of • It is collection of web
computer networks pages that are accessed
used for information using internet.
sharing. • It uses HTTP protocol.
• It uses TCP/IP protocol • It is a service provided
for communication by internet.
• It is a network. • Tim Berners-Lee
• It is originated invented the World
sometimes in late Wide Web in 1989.
1960s.
Web browser
A web browser is an application for accessing
websites.
Whenever a user wants to access an information
through internet he searches the information via
web browser through internet. The response for
the request is displayed to the user by the web
browser via web pages.
Ex:Chrome,Mozilla firefox etc.
Web Server
A web server is a computer system that stores
and serves website files to users. It consists of
hardware, software, and website content, and it
can be used to provide World Wide Web
(WWW) services on the internet.
There are two types of web servers:
1. Static web server
2. Dynamic web server
• Static web server -static websites have stable
content, where every user sees the exact
same thing on each individual page.
Ex : College website

• Dynamic web server -dynamic website

presents different information to different
visitors. The content that a visitor sees can be
determined by several factors, such as their
location, local time.
Ex:e-commerce sites.
Uniform Resource Locator(URL)
• A URL is the address of a given unique
resource on the Web.
Ex:
https://www.example.com/samples/first.html
Components of URL address:
1.Protocol part
2.Domain name
3.Path name
1. Protocol part: It indicates the protocol used for
transmission of information through internet.
Ex:http,https,ftp etc

2. Domain name : A domain name is your website

name.
• A domain name is the address where Internet
users can access your website.

• A domain name can be any combination of letters

and numbers, and it can be used in combination
of the various domain name extensions, such as
.com, .net and more.
3. Path name : It mainly indicates the
information which is searched by the user.

The information in the path is stored by the

domain name of the website.
.com –
Commercial

.org-
Organization

.net-
Network

gov -
Government agencies

edu -
Educational institutions
IP address
 An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a unique
numerical identifier assigned for every device
or network that connects to the internet.
Typically assigned by an internet service
provider (ISP).
Ex:192.168.35.4
Parts of IP address:
1.Network part
2.Host part
1.Network part - This part specifies the unique
number assigned to your network.
192.168 forms the network part

2. Host part - This is the part of the IP address

that you assign to each host. It uniquely
identifies this machine on your network.

• Note that for each host on your network, the

network part of the address will be the same,
but the host part must be different.
• An Internet Protocol is a set of rules that
govern Internet activity and facilitate
completion of a variety of actions on the
World Wide Web.
What are types of IP address?
IP addresses are classified into 2 types –

1) Static IP address

2) Dynamic IP address
• Static IP addresses serve as a permanent
Internet address.

• Static IP addresses reveal such information as

the continent, country, region, and city in
which a computer is located
• Dynamic IP addresses are temporary and are
assigned (via DHCP) each time a computer
joins a network.
HTTP
• HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the set
of rules for transferring files (text, graphic
images, sound, video, and other multimedia
files) on the World Wide Web.
HTTP connects between browser and web
server . It contains 2 information header &
body.
The header contains the communication
information.
The body contains the data to be transformed.

HTTP consists of 2 phases –

1) Request
2) Response
 HTTP Request / Response:
Communication between clients and servers is
done by requests and responses:
• A client (a browser) sends an HTTP request to
the web
• A web server receives the request
• The server runs an application to process the
request
• The server returns an HTTP response (output)
to the browser
• The client (the browser) receives the response
List the different HTTP request methods.
1) GET
2) HEAD
3) POST
4) PUT
5) DELETE
Examples of HTTP status codes –
400 - Bad Request
401 – Unauthorized
404 - Not Found
505- HTTP Version Not Supported
Security in web
• Web Security is very important nowadays.
• Websites are always prone to security
threats/risks.
• Web Security deals with the security of data
over the internet/network while it is being
transferred to the internet.
• For e.g. when you are transferring data
between client and server and you have to
protect that data that security of data is your
web security.
Authentication and Authorization:
• Authentication: This is the process of verifying
the identity of users, ensuring they are who
they claim to be.

• Common methods include passwords,

biometrics, and single sign-on (SSO).
 Data Encryption:

• HTTPS: Encrypting data in transit is essential.

The use of HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol
Secure) ensures that data transmitted
between the user's browser and the web
server is encrypted, preventing eavesdropping
and man-in-the-middle attacks.
 User Education:

• Educating users about security best practices,

like creating strong passwords and being
cautious about sharing personal information,
can help reduce security risks.
• Multifactor authentication (MFA). An MFA
system adds an extra layer of security. It works
by sending a personal identification number
(PIN) to a user’s smartphone or email during
the authentication process. Without the PIN
an attacker cannot authenticate.
The Web Programmers Toolbox
It includes HTML, XML ,JavaScript, Java , Perl,
PHP and Ruby.

Ajax is a web technology that uses JavaScript

and XML.
• Perl, PHP, and Ruby are all programming
languages commonly used for web
development and other purposes.
Perl-
• Purpose: Perl (Practical Extraction and Reporting
Language) is a versatile and powerful programming
language. It was initially developed for text processing
and web development.
Strengths:
• Strong text-processing capabilities, including regular
expressions.
• Widely used for system administration tasks, scripting,
and automation.
• Support for various programming paradigms, including
procedural, object-oriented, and functional
programming.
It's more commonly used in system
administration, data manipulation, and
bioinformatics.
PHP -
• Purpose: PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a
scripting language designed primarily for web
development. It's embedded within HTML code
to create dynamic web pages.

• Strengths:
– Designed specifically for web applications, making it
easy to create web pages that interact with databases
and handle user input.
– Runs on various web servers and platforms.
Ruby -

• Purpose: Ruby is a dynamic, object-oriented

programming language known for its simplicity
and productivity. It's often used for web
development, among other purposes.

• Strengths:
– Elegant and clean syntax that promotes readability
and developer productivity.
– Object-oriented programming (OOP) features, making
it easy to build and maintain complex software.