World+Wide+Web

=World Wide Web ("www" or "web")= toc

The World Wide Web, also known as “www” or “web”, is a read-write space of information. It can be accessed globally (with the right technology) and contains everything from images to text, to video and/or audio, unlimited resources and information and much much more. It enables users to download software, games, movies, television shows (even lets you watch it), music and the list goes on and on. Frequently it is used interchangeably with the Internet, but it is actually something that is offered by the Internet. The Internet makes the web available along with the services it performs (ie. Email).

It is an arrangement of Internet servers supporting one another through formatted documents, using a language called HTML (HyperText Markup Language), created specially for this. HTML allow linking to other graphics, video files, documents, audio etc… though not all Internet servers are in conjunction with the World Wide Web. Many different applications have been created to permit access to the web. They are called web browsers. A few main browser allowing easy access are FireFox, Internet Explorer, Netscape, and Safari.



URL
A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) identifies a resource while providing the means to obtain “a representation of the resource by describing its primary access mechanism or network “location’” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Resource_Locator). It is made p of several parts allowing users to find what they are looking for. For example:

http://example.com:992/animal/bird?species=seagull#wings \__/ \_____/ \_/\__/ \_/ \___/ scheme host port path query fragment


 * Fig. 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Resource_Locator

When viewing a website on the World Wide Web, it typically begins with inputting the URL in the address bar/browser. At times, it may be through a hypertext link, that links one page to another, other sources, downloads etc… (as with most web pages). This collaboration and collection of information/resources interconnected to each other has been hailed as “a ‘web’ of information” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web).

Web Standards
Many standards of the Web has been comprised with three main points:

1) The Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), which is a universal system for referencing resources on the Web, such as Web pages; 2) The HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which specifies how the browser and server communicate with each other; and 3) The HyperText Markup Language (HTML), used to define the structure and content of hypertext documents.

Tim Berners-Lee, who greatly influenced the creation of the World Wide Web, is now the head of the [|World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)]. The W3C extend and maintain many standards that facilitates computers to efficiently and efficiently communicate several forms of information while storing it at the same time. The web standards have started to evolve in a new direction known as Web 2.0 and more can be read about it here.

Impact on Society
Unprecedented to human history, the Web has broke way to allowing universal interpersonal communication/exchange. It has created Marshal McLuhan’s idea of a global village. Overwhelming distances and time has been traveled on a scale unknown to the past. Exchanges of information had reached a global market allowing customs, ideas, values, personal experiences, art, etc… to be shared virtually anywhere at any time and disseminate into one. The fact that it is digital, give rise to an easier form that is more efficient and effective than a library or any other communicative media. It is the most extensive global medium of personal exchange.

Related Links

 * Web 2.0

References:
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 * 1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web
 * 2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Resource_Locator
 * 3) http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/World_Wide_Web.html