How Does The World Wide Web Work?
What Is The World Wide Web?
- Described In Many Ways
"The universe of network-accessible
information..."
"...an emerging global information society"
"...an embodiment of human knowledge"
"...hypertext stretched across the Internet..."
- Making Information On The Internet Easily
Accessible
Technically, the Web uses a body of software, protocols and
conventions to simplify making information available on the
Internet and retrieving it for viewing and use. Much of the
technology of the Web is based on "open standards" - basic
software and communications designs that any company can
use to develop their products.
- Coordinated Development
Initiated by the CERN research center in Switzerland in the
late 1980s, evolution of the Web is now coordinated by the
World
Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
Links Create a Web of Information
![[Hypertext Links Many Documents Together]](hyper4.jpg)
- Within each Web page you can place links to other pages
on the Web.
- Click on a link and the page it refers to is
immediately retrieved and displayed.
- The interconnected pages create a web of
information.
Programs Talking to Programs Across The Internet
![[The Client (Browser) Sends Commands To The Server, The Server Sends Files to the Client]](paths3.jpg)
- Your browser (the client program) manages the display
the reader sees, including the pull down menus.
- The browser handles the readers requests, such as
clicking on a linked text.
- The browser sends a request to the document server,
which might be anywhere on the Internet.
- The document server sends copies of the requested files
to the browser.
- The browser displays the files.
Resources