PrintMany people use the terms World Wide Web and Internet interchangeably, but they're really two very different things.
The Internet is a global "network of networks," linking millions of computers that share information via a set of shared software protocols. Other applications, in turn, use the Internet as a communications medium. These include popular services such as email, Internet chat, and the World Wide Web.
The History of the Web
The Web began in 1989, when physicist Tim Berners-Lee envisioned a way for scientists to exchange research papers over the Internet. Berners-Lee wanted a way not only to publish text on the Internet, but also to embed links that could take the reader to other parts of the document or even to documents located elsewhere on the Internet — creating a global "web" of interconnected content.
Berners-Lee's idea wasn't completely original — other researchers had described similar systems as long ago as the 1940s, and by the 1980s applications such as standard generalized markup language (SGML) were using complex sets of hyperlinks to connect documents. But Berners-Lee developed a basic system that didn't require expensive software or advanced programming skills. He invented a basic protocol for publishing documents on the Internet, called hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), as well as a simple set of commands called hypertext markup language (HTML) that described the structure of a document.
The Web got a huge boost in 1993, when a University of Illinois graduate student named Marc Andreessen developed software that displayed Web pages in a graphical form. Andreessen's software, called a browser, allowed people to publish images as well as text on their Web pages. As a result, the Web quickly grew beyond its original scientific audience, and Andreessen went on to cofound Netscape Communications — the first great success story of the Internet Revolution.
What Makes the Web So Successful?
The Web is popular not only because it is easy to use, but because anyone can publish their own Web pages. Basic HTML is very easy to learn — it uses a set of simple tags that describe headlines, paragraphs, lists, tables, and other page elements. More recently, many companies have developed software that automates the development process, so you no longer have to learn any HTML at all. As a result, millions of people with little or no technical experience have published their own Web sites.
There are several ways to navigate the Web with browser software. Every Web page has a unique text address, called a uniform resource locator (URL). When you enter a URL — for example, www.yahoo.com — the browser takes you to the correct Web page. Browsers can store collections of preselected URLs, called bookmarks or favorites, that help you keep track of your favorite Web sites.
Most Web pages have a number of hyperlinks in them. When you click a link, it takes you to another Web page, either on the same site or at another location. These hyperlinks are one of the things that make the Web such a powerful medium, because they allow publishers to tie together information in a limitless number of ways. When you refer to another information source on the Web, you can also link to it, letting your audience see that information for themselves.
Although the early World Wide Web supported only text and basic graphics, today the Web supports an amazing variety of multimedia content. Many Web pages now include animations, audio, video and embedded applications that perform the same tasks as traditional computer software. Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer usually include built-in support for this content, although in some cases you will need to download special software, called plug-ins, that allow Web browsers to recognize certain types of material.
Looking Ahead
For several years, the Web has grown at an exponential rate. There may now be tens of millions of Web pages located on many thousands of computers. This incredible growth raises an interesting question: How do you organize so much information, especially when it changes so rapidly? Many search engines and online directories try to index and organize the Web, but even the biggest directories barely make a dent in the huge mass of text, images and other content located around the Web. As the Web continues to grow, one of the major challenges will be finding a way to catalogue all of this information and to make it accessible.
