The World Wide Web [] (briefly Web, WWW or German: World-wide network; literally: Web = fabric, net) is over Internet the callable hypertext system.

For this one needs a Webbrowser, in order to get and indicate e.g. on the screen the data from the Web server to. The user can follow hyper+on the left of in the document, which refer to other documents, indifferently whether it on the same Web server or another is stored. Thereby a world-wide net (or fabrics) from web pages results. Pursuing hyper+on the left of is often called Internetsurfen.

The WWW is often equated generally linguistic usage with the Internet, although it is younger and only a possible use of the Internets represents (like that as in response Internet only one of different possible server groups is). There are quite Internet services, those not to the WWW is integrated (most well-known E-Mail is, but e.g. also IRC and telnet). To this confusion not least the Webbrowser contributed, which not only actual HTTP minutes (see below) to use to be able, but the user also still different services such as Mail and ftp make accessible.

History

The Web developed 1989 as project at the CERN in Geneva (Switzerland), at which Tim Berners Lee developed an hypertext system. The original goal of the system was it to exchange research results easily and way with colleagues. A method for this was also "„interlacing "“from scientific articles - thus providing a Webs. Deviating from the original idea Web servers did not have generally the ability to work on the represented text also immediately. This was realized only later by the Wikis. The hypertext at the basis lying concept descends from earlier developments, like Ted Nelsons project Xanadu, Vannevar Bush "“memex"” machine idea and note the code Project.

The World Wide Web differs from hypertext systems at that time (note code used for example a simple and readable syntax and even semantic descriptors). The WWW needs only unidirectional ones left instead of bi-directional, which makes it for everyone possible to set a left on resources without their owner must intervene. Besides, differently than other minutes such as HyperCard or Gopher, the World Wide Web on free minutes constructs, which made the development of servers and Clients without restrictions possible by licenses.

Tim Berners Lee called the first Web display program (which it wrote in the autumn 1990 on a NEXT computer and which was rather a Browser editor hybrid), simply "“WorldWideWeb"”. Later it designated it - to avoid around mistakes with the World Wide Web (with blanks) - in "“Nexus"” over. It could indicate only text at that time, but later Browser such as Pei point Viola (1992) added the ability to indicate diagrams. Marc Andreessen of the NCSA published a Browser in the year 1993 named "“Mosaic for X"”, which ungekannte soon the Web and also the entire Internet popularity beyond the past user circles and a growth like an explosion gave. Marc Andreesen created the company "“Mosaic Communications corporation"”, later "“Netscape Communication"”. Meanwhile modern Browser can show also additional characteristics like dynamic contents, music and animations.

Function mode

The WWW is based on three core standards:

• HTTP as minutes, with which the Browser can request information from the Web server.
• HTML as document specification language, which specifies, like the information is arranged and like the documents is linked (hyper+on the left of).
• URLs as clear address and/or designation of resources (e.g. a web page), which are used in hyper+on the left of.

HTML is developed further meanwhile in new form as XHTML.

the following standards were added later:

• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) specify the appearance of the elements of a web page, whereby representation and contents are separated.
• Javascript (also JScript) is a programming language with instructions for the Browser with the programs to be embedded can (Skripte). Thus web pages can with the help of document the Object Models (CATHEDRAL) dynamically be changed. In addition, Skripte are usually small program chips, can as Client manager with the help of CATHEDRAL complete control of the announcement take over.
• Hypertext transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an advancement of HTTP, with which minutes SSL between TCP and HTTP are pushed and in the consequence the Datentransfer are completely coded.

The World Wide Web Consortium, which is led today by the inventor of the WWW, Tim Berners Lee, develops here the HTML and CSS standard; other standards come from the Internet Engineering Task Force, the ECMA or manufacturers such as Sun Microsystems.

The WWW is supplemented and by other technologies. Already very early pictures were used for the illustration; the formats GIF, png and JPEG prevail forwards.

In addition almost all file types can be embedded or linked with HTML, which the Browser can represent by supplementary modules. Thereby Multimediainhalte of animations leave themselves up to music and video or whole applications like e.g. Insurance computers or navigation surfaces represent. Furthermore Java applet make an embedding possible of programs, which run off on the computer of the www user.

Further popular formats are pdf to the announcement of documents and/or Flash for interactive contents or animations.

Dynamic web pages and applications of Web

With the help of the dynamic www sides the WWW can serve as surface for distributed programs: A program is not started any longer conventionally locally on the computer, but is simply a quantity from dynamic www sides, which can be regarded and served by a Webbrowser. Favourable it is here that the programs no more are there distributed on the individual computers and (decentralized) must be administered.

Dynamic applications of Web are implemented either at the Web server or directly in the Browser.

• Implement from applications of Web at the Web server: Contents through produced in script languages (like PHP or Perl) or compiled applications (like JSP or ASP.NET) written applications of Web and supplied to the Browser.
• Dynamic Websites at the Client: The Browser produces or changes contents by means of Javascript.
• Mixed execution: A mixed execution represents AJAX - here the Browser sends a Request, which is worked on by the Web server and so dynamically parts of the HTML structure renewed by means of Javascript.

The limited expression possibilities from www sides are unfavorable, so that programs cannot be generally as simply served in the form of Internet sides as conventional programs. A trend, which tries, both again in agreement to get, are Rich Internet Applications.

Furthermore it is to be observed that ever more service, which were separate from the WWW originally and are used with separate programs ever more frequently over the technical possibilities of the WWW is offered and by means of a Browsers to be used to be able:

Thus Webmail is often used as E-Mail-Client and/or Web ftp as Ftp Client; Forum replace that to Usenet and Webchats the the IRC.

Compatibility and accesibility

Often Browser manufacturers introduced new possibilities, without waiting for a standardisation. Turned around however yet all parts of standards are not correctly implemented such as HTML or CSS. This leads to between certain web pages and some Browsern. "“Particularly out-done"” by such the company Netscape, today above all the Redmonder enterprise Microsoft had itself at the beginning of the Internet boom.

In addition a substantial advantage of this language was lost - the separation from contents and representation through the multiplicity of the Ad-Hoc-extensions of HTML. By this separation contents distinguished in HTML can optimally for the respective output device - whether screen, display of the mobile telephone or the acoustic output (for users with Sehschwierigkeiten) is prepared -.

The W3C and other initiatives advance therefore the development in the direction XHTML/XML and CSS, in order to attain these advantages of HTML again. By the efforts toward the barrier liberty from Internet sides, progressing in the western countries, this trend on commercial and national Internet sides will probably become generally accepted on a long-term basis.

See also

• Transformation of the World Wide Web: Web 2.0
• used minutes: HTTP, HTTPS
• used document formats and document languages: HTML, XHTML, DHTML, SGML, XML, SVG, pdf, Curl CONTENTS language, CSS, XSL
• Server-lateral technologies: Cgi, Perl, PHP, Python, ASP, JSP/Servlet, ColdFusion, Ruby, SSI
• Clientseitige technologies: Java (Java applet), Javascript, Flash
• Evaluation: Log file, log file analysis
• Web display formats: PNG, JPG, GIF
• Occupations: Web designer

See also: Personal computer, search machine, Web log (Blog), semantic Web, Web listing

Literature

• Tim Berners Lee: Information management: A Proposal, 1998
• CH. Meinel, H. bag: WWW - communication, Internetworking, Web technologies, Springer publishing house, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 2004.

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