1.3 The World Wide Web

Web

We have seen how computers connected on the Internet communicate in different languages called protocols, to exchange emails, files, chat messages…

One of these protocols is called HTTP. It’s the protocol with which computers share Webpages between each other, like the one you’re currently reading.

The Web is the part of the Internet where Webpages are shared. You can tell you’re browsing the Web if the URL starts with http://.

Webpage

A Webpage is a document written in HTML that is shared across the Web.

You open these documents with a Web browser.

To access a Webpage you can either:

• type its URL, like http://marksheet.io/web.html
• click on a link, like this one

Because remember URLs is cumbersome, the Web at its origin is based upon interlinked documents to make easy for users to browse the Web.

Website

A Website is simply a collection of Webpages located on a same domain.

• Web http://
  • Website marksheet.io
    • Webpage /introduction.html
    • Webpage /internet.html
    • Webpage /web.html

Opening a Webpage in your browser

By navigating to http://marksheet.io/web.html, you’re asking a computer on the Internet to get the web.html document.

In that case, your computer is the client. You’re asking the MarkSheet server (on which the website is hosted) to get the file called web.html.

Your browser is then able to display web.html.

The file is not saved on your computer though: it is only displayed temporarily while you navigate it. If you go to http://marksheet.io/web.html later, it will ask the MarkSheet computer again for that same file, if it still exists. That way, it ensures you always get the latest version of the file.

Web

The part of the Internet that uses the HTTP protocol.

Webpage

A document written in HTML.

Website

A collection of Webpages on the same domain.

Browser

A program that can open Webpages in order to display them.