Chapter 1

The Fundamentals

Introduction to Internet
Internet is a global communication system that links together thousands of individual networks.
It allows exchange of information between two or more computers on a network. Thus internet
helps in transfer of messages through mail, chat, video & audio conference, etc. No company owns
the internet ([Link] central administration or control for the internet), it is cooperative effort
governed by a system of standard and rules.

Internet was evolved in 1969, under the project called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects
Agency Network) to connect computers at different universities and U.S. defence. Soon after the
people from different backgrounds such as engineers, scientists, students and researchers started
using the network for exchanging information and messages. In 1990s the internet working of
ARPANET, NSFnet and other private networks resulted into Internet. Therefore, Internet is a
global network of computer networks’ . It comprises of millions of computing devices that carry
and transfer volumes of information from one device to the other. Desktop computers, mainframes,
GPS units, cell phones, car alarms, video game consoles, are connected to the Net.

How Do I Connect to the Internet?

 Computer
 Connection - Phone Line, Cable, DSL, Wireless, ...
 Modem  Network Software - TCP/IP
 Application Software - Web Browser, Email, ...
 Internet Service Provider (ISP)

What Can I Do on the Internet?

 Send and receive email messages.

 Download free software with FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
 Post our opinion to a Usenet newsgroup.
 Surf the World Wide Web.

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  And much, much more.
 There is no charge for most services.

World Wide Web(WWW)

The World Wide Web (WWW) or web is an internet based service, which uses common set of
rules known as protocols, to distribute documents across the Internet in a standard way. World
Wide Web, which is also known as a Web, is a collection of websites or web pages stored in web
servers and connected to local computers through the internet. These websites contain text pages,
digital images, audios, videos, etc. Users can access the content of these sites from any part of the
world over the internet using their devices such as computers, laptops, cell phones, etc. The WWW,
along with internet, enables the retrieval and display of text and media to your device.

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The World Wide Web. Or ‘Web’ is a part of the Internet. The Web is viewed through web browser
software such as Google chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox etc. Using browsers one can
access the digital libraries containing innumerable articles, journals, e-books, news, tutorials stored
in the form of web pages on computers around the world called web servers-Today thousands of
web pages/websites are added to the WWW every hour.

World Wide Web is combination of four ideas: Hypertext, Resource identifier, Client-server
architecture and Markup language. Hypertext: is the ability to move from one part of a document
to another or from one document to another through internal connections among these documents
(called "hyperlinks"). Resource identifier: is the ability, on a computer network, to locate a
particular resource on the network through a unique identifier called IP address; There is unique
Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is associated with each web page.

HTTP is the protocol used to transfer data over the web; it is a simple request/response protocol.
The client-server model: of computing, in which client software or a client computer makes
requests of server software or a server computer that provides the client with resources or services,
such as data or files. Markup language: is a computer language for clarifying the contents of a
document. i.e how to print or display the text. W3C (world wide consortium) is the non- profit
organizations which makes the web [Link] most known web standards are: HTML, CSS,
XML, and XHTML.

Difference between Internet and WWW

The Internet is known as “interconnection of computer networks”. The Internet is a massive

network of networks. It connects millions of computers together globally, forming a network in
which any computer can communicate with any other computer as long as they are both connected
to the Internet. Information that travels over the Internet does so via a variety of languages known
as protocols.

The World Wide Web, or “Web” for short, or simply Web, is a massive collection of digital pages
to access information over the Internet. The Web uses the HTTP protocol, to transmit data and
allows applications to communicate in order to exchange business logic. The Web also uses
browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Firefox. to access web documents called Web pages that are
linked to each other via hyperlinks. Web documents also contain graphics, sounds, text and video.

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 WWW (World Wide Web) Internet
 The internet is a public network of
 The World Wide Web is the common
network with a maze of wired and
system for navigating the internet. It is not
wireless connections between
the only system that can be used for such
separate groups of servers computers
access, but it is by far the most common
and countless devices from around
one.
the world
 The World Wide Web is distinguished from
 Along with Internters, there also exist
other systems through its use of HTTP
the Intranets, which is the same type
(Hypertext Transfer Protocol). It can be
of information network but more
safely said that the HTTP is the language of
privatized in order to control access.
the World Wide Web
 WWW is more software-oriented as
 Internet is primarily hardware-based.
compared to the Internet
 The internet is governed by a set of
 The HTTP along with being the language of
rules and regulations collectively
the World Wide Web also governs it by
known as Internet Protocol (IP). The
dealing with linking of files, documents and
IP deals with data transmitted through
other resources
the internet.
 The invention of the World Wide Web can
 The first workable prototype of the
be credited to Sir Tim Berners Lee. During
Internet was the ARPANET
his work at the European Organization for
(Advanced Research Project Agency
Nuclear Research in 1989, he had
Network) in the late 1960s. After its
developed the basic idea of the WWW to
adoption on January 1st 1983,
merge the evolving technologies of
researchers began to develop a
computers, data networks and hypertext
“network of networks” which evolved
into a powerful and easy to use global
into the modern form of the Internet
information system.

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 Static Vs. Dynamic web pages

Static Web pages: Static Web pages are very simple. It is written in languages such as HTML,
JavaScript, CSS, etc. For static web pages when a server receives a request for a web page,
then the server sends the response to the client without doing any additional process. And these
web pages are seen through a web browser. In static web pages, Pages will remain the same
until someone changes it manually. Static web pages are only used when the information is no
more required to be modified.

Each web page is a separate document and there are no databases or external files that are
drawn upon. Example personal blogs, advertisement websites and etc.

Dynamic Web Pages:. A Dynamic web page is a web page that displays different content each
time it's viewed. Dynamic web pages are developed by scripting languages like PHP, JSP and
ASP to allow the users changing the contents of the web pages. Potentially able to make
updates without needing any change of HTML document.

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Difference between Static and Dynamic Web Pages:

Static Web Page Dynamic Web Page

In static web pages, Pages will remain same until In dynamic web pages, Content of pages are different
someone changes it manually. for different visitors.

Static Web Pages are simple in terms of

Dynamic web pages are complicated.
complexity.

In static web pages, Information are change In dynamic web page, Information are change
rarely. frequently.

Static Web Page takes less time for loading than

Dynamic web page takes more time for loading.
dynamic web page.

In Static Web Pages, database is not used. In dynamic web pages, database is used.

Static web pages are written in languages such Dynamic web pages are written in languages such as:
as: HTML, JavaScript, CSS, etc. CGI, AJAX, ASP, [Link], etc.

Static web pages does not contain any Dynamic web pages contains application program for
application program . different services.

Static web pages require less work and cost in Dynamic web pages require comparatively more work
designing them. and cost in designing them.

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Client side Vs. Server side scripting

Client-side scripting

Web browsers execute client-side scripting. It is used when browsers have all code. Source code
is used to transfer from webserver to user’s computer over the internet and run directly on
browsers. It is also used for validations and functionality for user events.

It allows for more interactivity. It usually performs several actions without going to the user. It
cannot be basically used to connect to databases on a web server. These scripts cannot access the
file system that resides in the web browser. Pages are altered on basis of the user’s choice. It can
also can also be used to create “cookies” that store data on the users computer.

Server-side scripting

Web servers are used to execute server-side scripting. They are basically used to create dynamic
pages. It can also access the file system residing at the webserver. A server-side environment that
runs on a scripting language is a web server. Server-side scripting is a method of designing
websites so that the process or user request is run on the web server. Popular server side scripting
are PHP, ASP & JSP.

Scripts can be written in any of a number of server-side scripting languages available. It is used to
retrieve and generate content for dynamic pages. It is used to require to download plugins. In this
load times are generally faster than client-side scripting. When you need to store and retrieve
information a database will be used to contain data. It can use huge resources of the server. It
reduces client-side computation overhead. The server sends pages to the request of the user/client.

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Difference between client-side scripting and server-side scripting :

Client-side scripting Server-side scripting

Source code is not visible to the user because its
output
Source code is visible to the user.
of server-sideside is an HTML page.

Its primary function is to manipulate and provide

Its main function is to provide the
access to the respective database as per the
requested output to the end user.
request.

In this any server-side technology can be used

It usually depends on the browser and and it does not
its version. depend on the client.

It runs on the user’s computer. It runs on the webserver.

There are many advantages linked

The primary advantage is its ability to highly
with this like faster.
customize, response
response times, a more interactive
requirements, access rights based on user.
application.

It does not provide security for data. It provides more security for data.
It is a technique used in web It is a technique that uses scripts on the
development in which scripts run on webserver to produce a response that is
the client’s browser. customized for each client’s request.
HTML, CSS, and javascript are used. PHP, Python, Java, Ruby are used.
No need of interaction with the server. It is all about interacting with the servers.

It reduces load on processing unit of

It surge the processing load on the server.
the server.

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Client server architecture
 Client(“front end”): Gathers information from the user, submits it to a server, then
receives, formats, and presents the results returned from the server.
 Server(“back end”): Fulfills a request for information by managing the request or
serving the requested information to the client.
 “Frontend” refers to any aspect of the design process that appears in or relates directly
to the browser.
 “Backend” refers to the programs and scripts that work on the server behind the scenes
to make web pages dynamic and interactive.
The web works based on the following steps:
1. You request a page by typing URL ([Link]
2. your browser send an HTTP request on the server named in the URL and asks for a
specific file.
3. The server looks for the request file and sends an either of the following HTTP response.
a. If the page cannot be found. The server return an error message which says “404”
not found.
b. If the document is found. The server retrieves the requested file and returns
it to the browser.

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 Browser
The web is a vast and powerful tool. Over the course of a few decades, the internet has changed
the way we work, the way we play and the way we interact with one another. Depending on how
it’s used, it bridges nations, drives commerce, nurtures relationships, drives the innovation engine
of the future and is responsible for more memes than we know what to do with.

 Browser is used to retrieve and display information from a Web server by using
HTTP protocol.
 Example: Microsoft internet explorer, Mozila fire fox, Opera, Safari, Google
chrome and etc.
 Web server is used to store, process and deliver web pages to the users.
 Example: Apache(most widely used Web server software), IIS(internet
information server), Netscape Web server and etc.

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Universal resource locators
A URL is the exact address or location of the electronic files/web page to be retrieved on the
internet. The URL contains the name of the protocol needed to access a resource, as well as a
resource name. The first part of a URL identifies what protocol to use as the primary access
medium. The second part identifies the IP address or domain name -- and possibly subdomain --
where the resource is located.

URL protocols include HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and HTTPS (HTTP Secure) for web
resources, mail to for email addresses, FTP for files on a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server, and
telnet for a session to access remote computers. Most URL protocols are followed by a colon and
two forward slashes; "mail to" is followed only by a colon.

 The URL consists of a protocol, domain name, and sometimes the path to a
specific Web page or location on a Web page.
 Example: [Link]
 [Link]:- represents the domain name
 /mypage :- represents the path of the web page
 [Link] :- represent the web page name/file name.
End users use URLs by typing them directly into the address bar of a browser or by clicking a
hyperlink found on a webpage, bookmark list, in an email or from another application.

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Domain name systems (DNS)

The Domain Name System (DNS) turns domain names into IP addresses, which browsers use to
load internet pages. Every device connected to the internet has its own IP address, which is used
by other devices to locate the device. DNS servers make it possible for people to input normal
words into their browsers, such as [Link], without having to keep track of the IP address for
every website.

Domain name is a human readable name given to a server for ease of reference by human, i.e. It is
an IP address in the textual form rather than numbers. The Domain Name System is a system by
which it converts human-readable name (domain name) such as “[Link]” to their
corresponding IP addresses; [Link]. Their conversions are done by software systems
called domain name servers Domain name server is simply a computer that contains a database of
domain names and their corresponding IP addresses.

 Domain name is constructed hierarchically. (i.e [Link])

 Label can be up to 63 characters long and are case insensitive

 Labels must start with a letter and can only consists of letters, digits and hyphens.

 The final most significant label of a fully qualified name can be:-

Three letter code :- indicate the type of organization hosting the computer

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