Introducing the World Wide Web

Concepts

Often the terms World Wide Web and the Internet are used interchangeably. They do not, however, mean the same thing.

Internet and World Wide Web

The Internet is a worldwide network of computer networks using a common protocol and linked by telecommunication lines and satellites. These networks are maintained by universities, governments, military installations, and businesses.

The World Wide Web is one of several systems for accessing and distributing information on the Internet. (Other terms for the World Wide Web include the Web, WWW, and W3.) Originated at CERN, a Swiss particle physics laboratory, the Web owes its popularity to its reliance on hypermedia.

Hypermedia

Hypermedia (also called hypertext) organizes information as an interconnected web of associations rather than linearly as in a book. Moving from one document to another takes place using a connection called a hyperlink (or an anchor). A hyperlink appears on a computer screen as a highlighted or underlined word or graphic. Clicking a mouse button with the cursor on a hyperlink opens the associated document for display on the computer screen. With hypermedia, that document can reside anywhere on the Web.

Figure a. Hyperlinked World Wide Web documents.



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