Chapter 2 Introduction to Web applications
1 Definitions & History:
1.1 The WEB
The term "Web" (English name meaning "web"), a contraction of "World Wide Web" (hence the
acronym www), is one of the possibilities offered by the Internet network to navigate between
documents linked by hypertext links. The concept of the Web was developed at CERN (European
Organization for Nuclear Research) in 1991 by a team of researchers that included Tim-Berners
LEE, the creator of the hyperlink concept, considered today as the founding father of the Web. Tim
Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) which defines new versions of Web-
related languages. More recently, he also created the World Wide Web Foundation, which analyzes
and monitors the evolution of the Web. The real revolution of the Web lies in its universal
character, the result of the use of recognized standards which are essentially:
• HTML, for the description of the pages available on the Web;
• HTTP, for communication between browser and web server;
• TCP/IP, the widely used network protocol;
• CGI, the interface that allows remote processing to be triggered on Web servers. The principle of
the web is based on the use of hyperlinks to navigate between documents (called "web pages")
using a software called a browser.
, Chapter 2 Introduction to Web applications
1.2 Internet:
Internet is the global computer network available to the public. It is a network of networks, made up
of millions of networks, both public and private. Information is transmitted over the Internet
through a standardized set of data transfer protocols.
1.3 Internet & WEB
Don't confuse the Internet and the Web, the Web is part of the Internet. The Internet is a large entity
that includes, among other things: the Web, e-mail, instant messaging, etc. Tim Berners-Lee is
therefore not the inventor of the Internet, he is only the inventor of the Web.
1.4 URL (Uniform Resource Locator):
On the Internet, documents are identified by a unique address, called a URL, which allows a
resource to be located on any server on the Internet. A URL is a universal naming format for a
resource on the Internet. It is a string of characters that is broken down into five parts:
The name of the protocol: The language used to communicate on the network. The most
widely used protocol is the HTTP protocol, the protocol for exchanging web pages in
HTML format.
Username and password: allows you to specify the access parameters to a secure server.
This option is not recommended because the password is visible in the URL
The server name: This is a domain name of the computer hosting the requested resource. By
convention, web servers have a name starting with www., in order to symbolize that they are
servers dedicated to the use of the web
Port number: Number associated with a service that allows the server to know what type of
resource is requested. The default port associated with the protocol is port number 80. Thus,
when the server's Web service is associated with port number 80, the port number is
optional
Resource path: Allows you to specify the location of the document on the machine, i.e. the
location (directory) and the name of the requested file.
1 Definitions & History:
1.1 The WEB
The term "Web" (English name meaning "web"), a contraction of "World Wide Web" (hence the
acronym www), is one of the possibilities offered by the Internet network to navigate between
documents linked by hypertext links. The concept of the Web was developed at CERN (European
Organization for Nuclear Research) in 1991 by a team of researchers that included Tim-Berners
LEE, the creator of the hyperlink concept, considered today as the founding father of the Web. Tim
Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) which defines new versions of Web-
related languages. More recently, he also created the World Wide Web Foundation, which analyzes
and monitors the evolution of the Web. The real revolution of the Web lies in its universal
character, the result of the use of recognized standards which are essentially:
• HTML, for the description of the pages available on the Web;
• HTTP, for communication between browser and web server;
• TCP/IP, the widely used network protocol;
• CGI, the interface that allows remote processing to be triggered on Web servers. The principle of
the web is based on the use of hyperlinks to navigate between documents (called "web pages")
using a software called a browser.
, Chapter 2 Introduction to Web applications
1.2 Internet:
Internet is the global computer network available to the public. It is a network of networks, made up
of millions of networks, both public and private. Information is transmitted over the Internet
through a standardized set of data transfer protocols.
1.3 Internet & WEB
Don't confuse the Internet and the Web, the Web is part of the Internet. The Internet is a large entity
that includes, among other things: the Web, e-mail, instant messaging, etc. Tim Berners-Lee is
therefore not the inventor of the Internet, he is only the inventor of the Web.
1.4 URL (Uniform Resource Locator):
On the Internet, documents are identified by a unique address, called a URL, which allows a
resource to be located on any server on the Internet. A URL is a universal naming format for a
resource on the Internet. It is a string of characters that is broken down into five parts:
The name of the protocol: The language used to communicate on the network. The most
widely used protocol is the HTTP protocol, the protocol for exchanging web pages in
HTML format.
Username and password: allows you to specify the access parameters to a secure server.
This option is not recommended because the password is visible in the URL
The server name: This is a domain name of the computer hosting the requested resource. By
convention, web servers have a name starting with www., in order to symbolize that they are
servers dedicated to the use of the web
Port number: Number associated with a service that allows the server to know what type of
resource is requested. The default port associated with the protocol is port number 80. Thus,
when the server's Web service is associated with port number 80, the port number is
optional
Resource path: Allows you to specify the location of the document on the machine, i.e. the
location (directory) and the name of the requested file.
