Fundamental of Internet Programming

Chapter 1
Internet Technologies and Protocols

1.1. What is Internet?

 It is a world-wide global system of interconnected computer networks. A computer
network is the interconnection of many individual computers to exchange message.
Network is a group of two or more computer connected together.
 It uses the standard Internet Protocol TCP/IP. Every computer in internet is identified by
a unique IP address. IP Address is a unique set of numbers which identifies a computer
location. Domain Name server (DNS) is used to give name to the IP Address so that user
can locate a computer by a name.
 For example, a DNS server will resolve a name http://www.google.com to a
particular IP address to uniquely identify the computer on which this website is
hosted.
 Internet is accessible to every user all over the world. So, Internet is a network of
networks.
Advantage of Internet
 Information sharing
 Communication i.e social networking
 Sharing of resource
Disadvantage of Internet
 Threat to personal information
 Virus attack
 Spamming
 Cyber crime
Terminology
 Learning about the Internet can be a bit confusing at first, but it becomes a lot
simpler if you can become familiar with some of the terminology used when talking
about the Internet. Here is a list of common words and phrases that you might hear.

1.2. Basic terms

A. On-line
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 You may sometimes hear people talk about “being on-line”. This is just another
way of saying that they are using the Internet.
B. World-Wide-Web (WWW)
 Tim Berners-Lee, a physicist in Switzerland, invented the World Wide Web in
1992 as a way to organize and access information on the Internet.
C. Web browser
 A web browser is a program that runs on users' computers and allows them to
view and interact with the web pages on the World Wide Web. The most common
web browsers are called Internet Explorer and Google Chrome.
D. Hypertext
 Hypertext is a text document that contains links to other text document.
 It allows a user to move from one web page to another by using a mouse to click
on special hypertext links.
 For example, a user viewing web pages that describe airplanes might
encounter a link to jet engines from one of those pages. By clicking on that
link, the user automatically jumps to a page that describes jet engines.
E. Webpage
 Webpage is a single document that may contain text, graphics, and icon.
 They are created using HTML.
F. Web site
 It is a group of well-structured and interlinked webpages.
G. Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
 To visit a Web site, users type the URL, which is the site's address, into the web
browser. An example of a URL is www.yahoo.com.
 A complete URL is generally made up of three components: the protocol, the site
name, and the absolute path to the document or resource as shown in the figure
below:

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H. Web server
 A web server is a computer that stores a web site, and is responsible for checking
requests for viewing that web site.
 Client computers send requests for particular URLs to the web server, which then
finds the appropriate web page, and sends it back to the client computer.
 A web server on the Internet must have a permanent Internet connection, so that
whenever a client computer requests a URL, the web server can respond straight
away.
I. Internet Service Provider (ISP)
 A company that provides Internet connections to customers.
J. Protocol
 It is a set of rules that govern the communication.
K. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/HTTPS)
 It is a communications protocol.
 It defines mechanism for communication between browser and the web server. It
is also called request and response protocol because the communication between
browser and server takes place in request and response pairs. Simply, it is the
means by which computers on the WWW communicate.
 HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP. It is used on web sites where sensitive
information such as bank details is exchanged.
L. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
 It is the language used to write web pages on the WWW.
M. Extensible Markup Language (XML)
 It is an alternative language for writing web pages. Whereas HTML pages describe
the format of the data’s presentation, pages written in XML describe only how the
data is structured.

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 XML provides a standard format for the movement of data in and between
applications.
 The data in an XML file usually requires some other application to interpret the data
and display it in a useful format.
N. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
 It is a group of experts who meet regularly to develop common protocols for the
evolution of the WWW.
 The W3C agrees on standards for HTML, XML and other web technologies, and for
how web browsers should interpret them.
Web development tools
 A number of tools exist for use by web authors (i.e. people who write web sites).
 HTML/XML: HTML and XML are the two main languages used for writing web
pages. Web authors can use a simple text editor such as Notepad to enter the
HTML/XML commands. The final page can then be viewed using a web
browser.
Client-server architecture
The data processing is split into distinct parts. A part is either requester (client) or provider
(server). The client sends during the data processing one or more requests to the servers to
perform specified tasks. The server part provides services for the clients.

How the Web works?

 What happens when a browser requests an HTML document over the Internet?
1. The user types a URL into the Web browser to identify which Web page they would
like to view.
2. The browser parses the URL and requests a DNS server using broadcast IP. It then
sends the URL to the DNS to resolve the IP address. In other words, it converts
appdev.com to 206.191.222.239.

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3. The browser then uses the IP address to send the HTTP packet to the browser’s ISP
connection, which passes it to the next server, routing it from server to server until it
reaches the destination Web server.

Figure 1: A request is made to the server.

4. The Web server locates the request page either on its hard drive or cached in
memory.
5. The Web server sends its contents back to the requested browser.

Figure 2: -The page is located and returned to the client machine.

6. The browser interprets the HTML formatting instructions and displays the content to
the user.
Website validation
1. Authorship: Who put up the site?
 The name of the individual or organization creating the site should be clearly
stated.
 The site should list the credentials of the author, whether it is an individual or an
organization.
 The site should provide a way for users to contact the author and to make
comments or ask questions.

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2. Purpose: Every site has a reason for being on the web

 A site’s purpose should be clear and its content should reflect its purpose, be it to
inform, entertain, persuade, educate or sell.
 Bias (if any) should be clearly stated through a mission statement or “about us”
section or elsewhere on the site.
3. Content & Currency: Is the information authoritative and up to date?
 The information should be accurate and the site should be updated regularly,
especially if the topic is time-sensitive.
 The site’s content should be easy to read and easy to understand by its intended
audience.
 The site should offer enough information to make it worth visiting.
4. Technical Aspects
 A search function should be provided for sites with large amounts of information.
 You should not have to pay to view the information on the site.
 Spelling and grammar should always be correct.
 Links to more information should be provided.
 Graphics on the site should be relevant and appropriate to the content.
 Advertising should be limited.
Putting it all together: If the website you found provides:
 Author name, acceptable author credentials and a way to contact the author.
 A clear statement of purpose or mission.
 accurate information (as measured by the citations for information on the site OR
by what you already know about the topic OR by comparing it to information
from an authoritative source)
 up-to-date information

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1.3. Website development steps

Website development is similar to any software development which may scale from few web pages up without
any database or query facility up complex number and content handling including tons of transactions and users
per time. The complexity of website development depends on many factors. Nevertheless, construction of any
type of website requires careful investigation of many factors in steps mentioned below.

Step 1: Gathering Information: Purpose, Main Goals, and Target Audience

The stage of discovering and researching determines how the subsequent actions will look like. It is applicable
to any development process, also including web application development, software development, and other
types of development. The most important task at this point is to get a clear understanding of your future
website purposes, the main goals you wish to get, and the target audience you want to attract to your site. By
gathering all the needed information, it is easier to develop the best strategy for further project management. As
a result, you are able to define the scope of the project and outline vital details, such as features of your website,
tasks to assign, timeline and scope of work, budget, etc.

News portal differs from an entertainment platform, and online resources especially designed for teenagers look
different from the sites developed for mature audiences. Diverse types of websites provide visitors with
different functionality, which means that various technologies may be used according to purposes. A well-
described and detailed plan based on this pre-development data can protect you from spending extra resources
on solving the unexpected issues, such as design changing or addition of the functionality that wasn’t initially
planned.

Step 2: Planning: Sitemap and Wireframe Creation

At this stage of the website development cycle, the developer creates the data that allows a customer to judge
how the entire website will look like. Based on the information that was gathered together in the previous phase,
the sitemap is designed. Here is an example of the sitemap of the XB Software website. The sitemap describes
the connections between the main areas of your platform. Such representation could help understand how usable
the final product will be. It can show you the “relationships” between the different pages, so you can judge how
easy it will be for the end-user to find the required information or service if he starts from the homepage. The
main reason behind the sitemap creation is to build a user-friendly and easy-to-navigate website.

The sitemap allows you to understand how the inner structure looks like, which page is linked to which, but
doesn’t describe the user interface. Sometimes, before you start to code or even work on a design, there’s a
necessity to get approval from a customer that everything looks fine so you can begin the next phase of
development. In this case, a wireframe or mock-up is created. A wireframe is a visual representation of the user
interface that you’re going to design. But it doesn’t contain any design elements, such as colors, logos, etc. It
only describes the elements that will be added to the page and their location. It’s artless and cheap in production
sketches. You can use any mockup for this purpose, such as Figma or any other similar option.

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Step 3: Design: Page Layouts, Review, and Approval Cycle

During the design phase, your site takes the shape. All the visual content, such as images, photos, and videos, is
created or gathered at this stage. Once again, all the info that was gathered through the first phase is crucial. The
customer and target audience must be kept in mind while you work on a design to make the user interface and
user experience intuitive and easy to use. Developing the website layout is the result of a designer’s work, often
done using a laptop for graphic design. This can be a graphic sketch or an actual graphic design. The primary
function of the layout is to represent the information structure, visualize the content, and demonstrate the basic
functionality. Layouts contain colors, logos, and images, providing a general understanding of the future
product. In such cases, companies often seek the assistance of UI/UX designers from outsourcing companies
that offer UI/UX development services to achieve the best results faster.

After the job’s done, the customer can review the layout and send you their feedback. If the client is not sure
about some aspects of your design, you should change the layout and send it back. This cycle is repeated until
the customer is completely satisfied.

Step 4: Compiling: Framework selection, Content Writing and Assembly

Content writing and compiling usually overlaps with other stages of website creation, and its role can’t be
underestimated. Now, it is necessary to put in writing the very essence you’d like to communicate to the target
audience and add call-to-action. Content writing also involves the creation of catching headlines, proofreading,
writing new blocks of text, etc., which takes time and effort. As a rule, the client undertakes to provide website
content ready to migrate to the site. It is better when all content is provided before or during coding. In parallel
to content writing, designers will select their coding framework, tools and languages. There are many
frameworks available out there including entity framework, full stack development, react, angular, etc.
Step 5: Coding
You can finally start creating the site itself. Graphic elements that have been designed during the previous
stages are used at this stage to develop an actual website. Usually, the home page is created first, and then all
sub-pages are added, according to the hierarchy that was previously compiled in the sitemap. The chosen
frameworks and CMS are implemented to make sure that the server can handle the installation and set-up
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smoothly. All static web page elements that were designed during the mock-up and layout creation should be
implemented and tested. Then, special features and interactivity are added. A deep understanding of every
website development technology that you’re going to use is crucial at this phase.
When you use CMS for site creation, you can also install CMS plugins at this step if there’s a need. The other
important step is SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO is the optimization of website elements (e.g., title,
description, keyword) that can help your site achieve higher rankings in the search engines. And, once again,
valid code is pretty important for SEO.
Step 6. Testing Review and Launch
Testing software or a website is probably the most routine part of a process. Every single link has to be tested to
make sure that there are no broken ones among them. Check every form, every script, run a spell-checking
software to find possible typos. Use code validators to check if your code follows the current web standards.
Valid code is necessary, for example, if cross-browser compatibility is crucial for you.
After you check and re-check your site, it’s time to upload it to a server. An FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
software is used for that purpose. After the deployment of the required files, you should run yet another final
test to be sure that all your files have been installed correctly.

Step 7: Maintenance: Opinion Monitoring and Regular Updating

What’s important to remember is that a website is more of a service than a product. It’s not enough to just
“deliver” it to a user. Make sure that everything works fine, and everybody is satisfied and always be prepared
to make changes in another case. The feedback system added to the site will allow you to detect possible
problems the end-users face. The highest priority task, in this case, is to fix the problem as fast as you can. If
you don’t, you may find one day that your users prefer to use another website rather than put up with the
inconvenience. The other important thing is keeping your site up to date. If you use a CMS, regular updates will
prevent you from bugs and decrease security risks. To be sure that there will be less of them, you can opt to the
custom software development services provided by outsourcing companies. In this case, you will be sure that a
website or software is developed by experts, while your team can deal with other projects.

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