Easy Web Site Design

Glossary of Internet Terms and Internet Jargon

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This glossary provides quick definitions for the most common jargon encountered by newcomers to the world of Web design.

Apache The most commonly used Web server. Apache is open source, which means it may be used free of charge.

ASP Active Server Pages, a server side scripting technology from Microsoft. Also stands for Application Service Provider, an organization that offers remote software services to clients.

Blog Short for Web-log. Essentially an easily maintained Web-based diary.

Browser Software program such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape that allows Web pages to be displayed on a computer.

CSS Cascading Style Sheets. The W3C recommended language for defining how Web pages should look.

Deprecated A feature of a language, eg certain tags and attributes in HTML, that have been dropped from the official language specification. In terms of HTML deprecated tags will continue to function in older browsers but there is no guarantee they will be supported in standards-compliant browsers fo the future, hence they should be avoided.

DHTML Dynamic HTML. The combination of HTML and JavaScript to allow Web pages to change in response to user activity.

E-Mail Electronic mail. One of the most common applications of the Internet allowing electronic messages to be delivered near-instantaneously from and to anyone with Internet e-mail addresses.

FTP File Transfer Protocol. A protocol allowing files to be uploaded (sent) or downloaded (requested) from one computer to another.

HTML Hypertext Markup Language. The tagged language used to create Web pages.

HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The protocol allowing Web pages to be requested from a Web server by a browser and delivered by the server to the browser.

Hyperlink A part of a Web page (either text or an image) that when clicked causes the browser to load a new page.

IIS Internet Information Server. Microsoft's Web server.

Internet The global network of computers and computer networks that are able to communicate and share information by means of the TCP/IP protocol. The Internet supports applications such as the Web, e-mail, USENET and FTP.

Java A platform-independent programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. The most common uses of Java on the Web are for Java applets (Java programs that may be run by a Web browser) and JSP (a Java-based server-side scripting language).

JavaScript A client-side scripting language developed by Netscape.

JSP Java Server Pages. A Java-based server-side scripting language.

.NET In the words of Microsoft .NET is "the Microsoft Web services strategy to connect information, people, systems, and devices through software." .NET uses XML.

Newsgroups see USENET.

Open source The growing movement in software development under which software is made available for use free of charge. Additionally, the source code (ie the actual programming code used to create the software) is also made freely available in order that any interested parties may modify/improve the software on condition that any derived software is also offered freely as open source.

PHP PHP Hypertext Pre-processor (sometimes known as Personal Home Pages). A commonly used open source server-side scripting language.

POP3 Post Office Protocol 3. A protocol allowing Internet users to connect to their mail server and download their e-mail messages.

Protocol A an agreed standard or set of rules for doing something, eg computers need to follow the same protocol in order to communicate or share resources.

Quicktime Apple's multimedia (eg video, audio) file format and associated technology for delivering such content across the Internet.

Real The most widely used technology from RealNetworks, Inc. for video and audio streaming.

RSS Rich Site Summary, RDF Site Summary, or Really Simple Syndication. An XML-based technology allowing sites to distribute content, eg news headlines, to other sites and clients.

Shockwave A technology from Macromedia allowing multimedia content to be run in a Web browser.

SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. A protocol allowing Internet users to connect to their mail server and send e-mail messages.

Streaming A mechanism for delivering multimedia (eg video, audio) content across the Internet whereby the content file plays as it is downloaded, thus overcoming the need for the entire file to be downloaded before it begins playing. The three most common formats for streaming media are Real, Quicktime and Windows Media.

TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol. The protocol on which the Internet operates.

USENET (newgroups) The vast collection of message boards of threaded discussions containing groups on virtually every topic under the sun. Groups are organized hierarchically with major top level categories such as comp (computers), sci (science) and soc (society).

W3C The World Wide Web Consortium. The W3C develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. W3C is a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding.

Web (WWW, World Wide Web) The vast collection of hyperlinked HTML documents (pages) available across the Internet using the HTTP protocol and viewable in Web browser software.

Web server A software program that "listens" for requests for Web pages from clients (eg browsers) and responds to those requests by sending the requested document to the requesting client. The most popular and commonly used Web server is Apache.

Windows Media Microsoft's technology for video and audio streaming.

World Wide Web see Web.

WWW see Web.

XHTML Extensible HTML. A version of HTML that conforms to XML specifications.

XML Extensible Markup Language. A W3C recommended markup language system allowing developers to create tags suited to their particular needs. XML has become a very popular means of data storage and transmission.

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