CONCEPT, EVOLUTION OF WWW & INTERNET

What is the Internet?

The Internet is a global collection of computer networks that are linked together by devices called
routers and use a common set of protocols for data transmission known as TCP/IP (transmission control
protocol / Internet protocol). The primary purpose of the Internet is to facilitate the sharing of
information. There are many different tools used on the Internet to make this possible. Some of the
more common tools include email, listservs, newsgroups, telnet, gopher, FTP, and the world wide web.
Probably the most popular of all Internet tools is the world wide web.

The Internet, sometimes called simply "the Net," is a worldwide system of computer networks - a
network of networks in which users at any one computer can, if they have permission, get information
from any other computer (and sometimes talk directly to users at other computers). The U.S.
Department of Defense laid the foundation of the Internet roughly 30 years ago with a network called
ARPANET. But the general public didn't use the Internet much until after the development of the World
Wide Web in the early 1990s. In 1957, the U.S. government formed the Advanced Research Projects
Agency (ARPA), a segment of the Department of Defense charged with ensuring U.S. leadership in
science and technology with military applications. In 1969, ARPA established ARPANET, the forerunner
of the Internet. ARPANET was a network that connected major computers at the University of California
at Los Angeles, the University of California at Santa Barbara, Stanford Research Institute, and the
University of Utah. Within a couple of years, several other educational and research institutions joined
the network. In response to the threat of nuclear attack, ARPANET was designed to allow continued
communication if one or more sites were destroyed. Unlike today, when millions of people have access
to the Internet from home, work, or their public library, ARPANET served only computer professionals,
engineers, and scientists who knew their way around its complex workings.

Internet-Based Services
Some of the basic services available to Internet users are −
 Email − A fast, easy, and inexpensive way to communicate with other Internet users around the
world.
 Telnet − Allows a user to log into a remote computer as though it were a local system.
 FTP − Allows a user to transfer virtually every kind of file that can be stored on a computer from
one Internet-connected computer to another.
 UseNet news − A distributed bulletin board that offers a combination news and discussion service
on thousands of topics.
 World Wide Web (WWW) − A hypertext interface to Internet information resources.

What is the World Wide Web (WWW)?

The WWW is a collection of Internet sites that can be accessed by using a hypertext interface. Hypertext
documents on the web contain links to other documents located anywhere on the web. By clicking on a
link, you are immediately taken to another file or site to access relevant materials. The interesting thing
about Hypertext links is that the links might take you to related material on another computer
located anywhere in the world, rather than just to a file on your local hard drive.

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WWW stands for World Wide Web. A technical definition of the World Wide Web is − All
the resources and users on the Internet that are using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP).
A broader definition comes from the organization that Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee
helped found, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): The World Wide Web is the
universe of network-accessible information, an embodiment of human knowledge.
In simple terms, The World Wide Web is a way of exchanging information between
computers on the Internet, tying them together into a vast collection of interactive
multimedia resources.

The World Wide Web came into being in 1991, thanks to developer Tim Berners-Lee and
others at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, also known as Conseil European
pour la Recherche Nucleure (CERN). The CERN team created the protocol based on
hypertext that makes it possible to connect content on the Web with hyperlinks. Berners-
Lee now directs the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a group of industry and
university representatives that oversees the standards of Web technology. Early on, the
Internet was limited to noncommercial uses because its backbone was provided largely
by the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
and the U.S. Department of Energy, and funding came from the government. But as
independent networks began to spring up, users could access commercial Web sites
without using the government-funded network. By the end of 1992, the first commercial
online service provider, Delphi, offered full Internet access to its subscribers, and several
other providers followed. In June 1993, the Web boasted just 130 sites. By a year later,
the number had risen to nearly 3,000. By April 1998, there were more than 2.2 million
sites on the Web. Today, the Internet is a public, cooperative, and self-sustaining facility
accessible to hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Basic WWW Concepts

1. BROWSER -- A WWW browser is software on your computer that allows you to
access the World Wide Web. Examples include Netscape Navigator and Microsoft
Internet Explorer. Please know that a browser can’t work its magic unless you are
somehow connected to the Internet. At home, that is normally accomplished by
using a modem that is attached to your computer and your phone line and
allows you to connect to, or dial-up, an Internet Service Provider (ISP). At work,
it may be accomplished by connecting your workplace’s local area network to the
Internet by using a router and a high speed data line.
2. HYPERTEXT AND HYPERMEDIA -- Hypertext is text that contains
electronic links to other text. In other words, if you click on hypertext it will

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 take you to other related material. In addition, most WWW documents
contain more than just text. They may include pictures, sounds,
animations, and movies. Documents with links that contain more than just
text are called hypermedia.
3. HTML (HYPERTEXT MARKUP LANGUAGE) -- HTML is a set of
commands used to create world wide web documents. The commands
allow the document creator to define the parts of the document. For
example, you may have text marked as headings, paragraphs, bulleted text,
footers, etc. There are also commands that let you import images, sounds,
animations, and movies as well as commands that let you specify links to
other documents. If you wanted to create your own web page, you would
need to know HTML or be able to use a tool that can generate HTML such
as Claris HomePage or Adobe PageMill.
4. URL (UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR) -- Links between documents
are achieved by using an addressing scheme. That is, in order to link to
another document or item (sound, picture, movie), it must have an address.
That address is called its URL. The URL identifies the host computer name,
directory path, and file name of the item. It also identifies the protocol used
to locate the item such as hypertext, gopher, ftp, telnet or news. For
example, the URL for the main page of the OPEN (Oregon Public
Education Network) website is http://www.open.k12.or.us
5. HTTP (HYPERTEXT TRANPORT PROTOCOL) -- HTTP is the protocol
used to transfer hypertext or hypermedia documents.
6. HOME PAGE -- A home page is usually the starting point for locating
information at a WWW site. Currently, the home page for Roseburg High
School’s web site is located at http://schools.rosenet.net/roseburg/rhs/
7. CLIENTS AND SERVERS -- If a computer has a web browser installed, it
is known as a client. A host computer that is capable of providing
information to others is called a server. A server requires special software
in order to provide web documents to others.

What is Web Browser?

Web Browsers are software installed on your PC. To access the Web you need a web
browsers, such as Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.
Currently you must be using any sort of Web browser while you are navigating through
my site tutorialspoint.com. On the Web, when you navigate through pages of
information this is commonly known as browsing or surfing.

What is HTTP?

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. This is the protocol being used to transfer
hypertext documents that makes the World Wide Web possible.

A standard web address such as Yahoo.com is called a URL and here the prefix http indicates
its protocol

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 FEATURES OF INTERNET SERVICES.
Major Features of the Internet:

The World Wide Web

 The World wide web is a part of the internet, which supports hypertext documents, allowing
users to view and nevigate different types of data.
 A web page is a document encoded with hypertext markup language (HTML) tags.
 HTML allows designers to link content together via hyperlinks.
 Every web page has an address ,a uniform resource locator (URL).

E-mail

 Electronic mail (e-mail) is the most popular reason people use the Internet.
 To create, send, and receive e-mail messages you need an e-mail program and an account on an
Internet mail server with a domain name.
 To use e-mail, a user must have an e-mail address, which you create by adding your user name
to the e-mail create by adding your user name to the e-mail server’s domain name, as in
[email protected].

News.

 One Internet based service called news, includes tens of thousands of newsgroups.
 Each newsgroup hosts discussions on a specific topic. A newsgroups a some indicated its users
special topic of interest, such as alt.food.cake.
 To participate in a newsgroup, you need a news-reader program hat.left you read articles that have
been posted on a news server. You can post articles for others to read and respond to.

Telnet

 Telnet is a specialized service that lets you use one computer to access the contents of another
computer a telnet host.
 A telnet program creates a “ Window” into the host so you can access files, issue commands, and
exchange data.
 Telnet is widely used by libraries to allow visitors to look up information, find articles and so on.

File transfer protocol

 File Transfer protocol (FTP) is the internet tool used to copy files from one computer to another.
 Using a special FTP program or a web browser, you can log into an ETP host Computer over the
internet and copy files on to your computer.
 FTP is handy for finding and copying software files, articles and other types of data. Universities and
software companies use FTP servers to provide visitors with access to data.

Internet Relay chat (IRC)

 Internet Relay chat (IRC) is a service that allows users to communicate in real time by typing text in a
special window.
 Like news, there are hundreds of IRC “channel” each devoted to a subject or user group.
 You can use a special IRC program to participate in chat room discussions but many chat rooms are
set up in web sites, enabling visitors to chat directly in their browser window.

Video Conferencing
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Video conferencing or Video teleconferencing is a method of communicating by two-way video and audio
transmission with help of telecommunication technologies.

Mailing Lists
Used to organize group of internet users to share common information through e-mail.

Internet Telephony (VoIP)

Allows the internet users to talk across internet to any PC equipped to receive the call.

Instant Messaging
Offers real time chat between individuals and group of people. Eg. Yahoo messenger, MSN
messenger.

Features of common internet services

Uses:

 View hundreds of millions web pages, all over the world.

 Use a search engine such as Google to find the page you want.
 Send and receive email.
 Use online shopping and e-commerce – you can buy goods, pay for them online and have
them delivered o your door.
 Do your banking.
 Access customer support – many commercial organizations support the sale and
maintenance of their products by putting information about their features and how to
maintain them on the Web. Company websites often have help and FAQs which support
customers using their products.
 Software distribution – for example, you can download free software or purchase it online,
and download printer drivers.
 Access and discuss information – mailing lists, bulletin boards and newsgroups provide you
with the information you need.
 Join discussion groups and chat online.
 Participate in conferences – you can even use a sound card, speakers and a microphone to
talk to other users.
 Browse web rings.
 Receive web broadcasting.
 Advertise your business by setting up your own website or purchasing adverts on other
websites.
 Build your own website and upload it to the Web.
 Upload and download digital media, such as music, images and video and publish these on
the Web so that they can be shared with friends and family.
 Publish an online personal diary with narrative, pictures and hyperlinks.
 Describe and define particular topics in collaboration with other web users, using a wiki. An
online encyclopedia could be a wiki, and you would find articles about history, science and
many other topics that have been written by many different contributors.
 Use social networking sites to communicate with a closed circle of friends who can see the
information about yourself that you upload.

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