Section 1.4. The Internet and the World Wide Web

1.4. The Internet and the World Wide Web

The Internet was initiated almost four decades ago with funding supplied by the U.S. Department of Defense. Originally designed to connect the main computer systems of about a dozen universities and research organizations, its chief benefit proved early on to be the capability for quick and easy communication via what came to be known as electronic mail (e-mail). This is true even on today's Internet, with e-mail, instant messaging and file transfer facilitating communications among about a billion people worldwide. The Internet has exploded into one of the world's premier communication mechanisms and continues to grow rapidly.

The World Wide Web allows computer users to locate and view multimedia-based documents on almost any subject over the Internet. The Web is a relatively recent development. In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee of CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) began to develop a technology for sharing information via hyperlinked text documents. Berners-Lee called his invention the HyperText Markup Language (HTML). He also wrote communication protocols to form the backbone of his new information system, which he referred to as the World Wide Web.

In the past, most computer applications ran on computers that were not connected to one another, whereas today's applications can be written to communicate among the world's computers. The Internet mixes computing and communications technologies. It makes our work easier. It makes information instantly and conveniently accessible worldwide. It enables individuals and small businesses to get worldwide exposure. It is changing the way business is done. People can search for the best prices on virtually any product or service. Special-interest communities can stay in touch with one another. Researchers can be made instantly aware of the latest breakthroughs. The Internet and the World Wide Web are surely among humankind's most profound creations. In Chapters 1923, you will learn how to build Internet- and Web-based applications.

In 1994, Tim Berners-Lee founded an organization, called the World Wide Web Consortium(W3C), that is devoted to developing nonproprietary, interoperable technologies for the World Wide Web. One of the W3C's primary goals is to make the Web universally accessibleregardless of disabilities, language or culture.

The W3C (www.w3.org) is also a standardization organization. Web technologies standardized by the W3C are called Recommendations. Current W3C Recommendations include the Extensible Markup Language(XML). We introduce XML in Section 1.5 and present it in detail in Chapter 19, Extensible Markup Language (XML). It is the key technology underlying the next version of the Word Wide Web, sometimes called the "semantic Web." It is also one of the key technologies that underlies Web services, which we discuss in Chapter 22.