Web 101: A BRIEF WEB DICTIONARY OF THE MOST AWE-INSPIRING BUZZWORDS

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Amaze your friends and co-workers! Spout techno-babble like a Pro! Memorize this list! (OK, OK. Come back and read this list anytime you need to.)

World Wide Web

This should come near the end in an alphabetized list, but since it is the core of the topic, we'll start with it. The Web is information sources called Web Servers communicating with information requesters called Web Browsers. Browsers send information requests in the form of Web addresses (URLs) to Servers, and Servers respond with the specified Web document. Web document developers embed hyperlinks within documents. Hyperlinks are links from one document (or document element) to another. Both Web Browsers and Web Servers are computers. A Web Browser is a computer connected to the Internet and running a Web Browser program, and a Web Server is a computer connected to the Internet and running a Web Server program. There are hundreds of Web Browser programs and fifty or so major Web Server programs.

Basic Web structure showing Users, Browsers, Servers and Developers

8.3 filename

This is the standard DOS and Windows 3.x filename. The filename is the first part, up to eight characters long, and the file extension or type is the second part, from zero to three characters long. This causes a problem in creating Web content on computers confined to 8.3 filenames, if the Web Server is on a computer system supporting long file names, such as Unix. (See: *.html, *.jpeg, Unix)

Examples:

*.doc

This is the standard file extension for Word for Windows. It uses Microsoft's proprietary system for "markup" indicating typeface, type size, type weight (bold or not) and other aspects of text formatting.

*.gif

This is the file extension for a GIF graphics file. GIF is one of the two graphics formats used on the Web, and is far and away the most popular of the two.

*.htm

This is the 8.3 file extension for Web content or HTML documents.

*.html

This is the extension for Web content or HTML documents, on Macintosh, Unix and other computer systems supporting long filenames.

*.jpg

This is the 8.3 extension for a JPEG graphics file. JPEG is one of the two graphics formats used on the Web.

*.jpeg

This is the extension for a JPEG graphics file, on Macintosh, Unix and other computer systems supporting long filenames.

*.PDF

This is the 8.3 extension for Adobe Acrobat files. (See: Adobe Acrobat Reader under Helper)

Browser-dependent This refers to an aspect of a Web document that can vary from one Web Browser to another. For example, typeface, font size, font color and the background color for a document are Browser-dependent. Changes can occur from one version number to another. For example Navigator 2.0 defaults to a gray background, Navigator 3.0 to a white background. Even on the same version, users can configure their copy of the program away from the default.

Client In general, the companion to a Server. A Server is a central source of information, and a Client is a method of retreiving that information to a local site. A Client is more intelligent than an old-fashioned terminal, and does some local processing of the information, relieving the Server of much of the processing it would otherwise have to do. For example, a LAN File Server sends file contents to workstations on the LAN. The workstations do much of the work in displaying or editing the files. Similarly, a Web Browser is a Web Client, and does most of the work of displaying the requested files. The Web Client formats the text according to the HTML Tags, puts specified graphic images in the document, etc. "Client/Server" has been the dominant direction in computing for a decade or more, and the Web fits into this Client Server model very nicely. In fact, the Web makes communications between computers generic instead of proprietary, and has generated the instense competition that we are currently experiencing. Web enthusiasts predict that the Web will become the dominant means of processing all information. This means, for example, that HTML will become the standard file format, and that proprietary formats, which inhibit competition, will wither on the vine. Will this actually happen? We will all get a chance to see. But Microsoft, for example, is making HTML its standard for word processing, spreadsheet, database, and presentation files.

Editor We don't mean a person here. What we do mean is a computer program for editing (creating, importing, changing and saving) computer files. Specifically, to edit an HTML file, us an HTML Editor.

Examples:

Text Editor

You can use a basic text editor, such as Notepad or DOS Edit, to create HTML files. You have to put in the HTML Tags by hand. In order to do this, you must know both what Tag to use for the effect you want, and how to write that Tag (syntax). This is a painstaking process, but can be necessary if you want the absolute finest control over your Web documents.

Tag Editor

This is a slightly higher-level HTML Editor, which knows the Tag syntax or form. You only need to know the name of the Tag and its options, in order to achieve document appearance you want.

WYSIWYG Editor

WYSIWYG = "What You See Is What You Get." It originally referred to having the printed copy of a Word Processor document look like what you had on the screen. In the context of Web Editors, it means that the view in a Browser is the same as the view in your WYSIWYG Editor. That is, if you can make the appearance be what you want in your HTML Editor, then it will look that way to the user in his/her Browser also. (But: see Browser-dependent.)

Generic file format This is a file format that has a public definition, and for which there are several file editors and readers. All of the Web file formats (HTML, GIF and JPEG) are generic. This means that if one editor does not perform a needed function, you can use another one, and still be able to use the first for other functions. And if one company goes out of business, there are other companies with products already on the market. This competition is one cause of the intense competition to develop better HTML Editors and Browsers.

Helper A computer program that helps a specific Browser display a new Web file format. For example, a Word helper would help Netscape Navigator display Word files. Within Ford, Acrobat is a popular helper.

Reader Another term for a Helper, emphasizing that it helps the Browser read an additional file format.

Associated Terms:

Acrobat Reader

A program developed by Adobe to read files in its Acrobat format (*.pdf). Adobe allows the Acrobat Reader to be distributed at no cost.

Acrobat Editor

The Editor for the Acrobat format (*.pdf). This program costs money. It can create, import, merge and save both graphic and text files from other programs. It is one of the few options for putting Ventura Publisher files on the Web, at least for older Publisher versions.<.DD>

Home Page The opening page for a Web Site, or more generally, for a subsection of a Web Site.

HTML HyperText Markup Language, the set of Tags for formatting Web documents. It also defines links to other documents, to other types of files such as graphics files, and to interactive functions. Note that Web graphics are not included in the document file, the way graphics are in Word files, for example. Instead, each Web graphic is a separate file. The HTML document contains an HTML link to each graphic file. The link tells the Browser to request the graphic file from the Web Server, and display the graphic when the file is received. If you are viewing a Web Page in your Browser, you can see the HTML code by choosing the menu item "View / Document Source."

Hyperlink

This is a link from one document to another, typically between Web documents. A Web link can go to another point in the same document, to the beginning or some other point in another document on the same Web Server (local document) or to another document or point within a document on another Web Server (remote document or URL). Hyperlink can also refer to to link to a graphic or other file type.

Hypermedia A generalization of Hypertext to include other media such as graphics, sound and video.

Hypertext Text documents that are linked together by hyperlinks. Web documents are currently the most popular form of hypertext, but not the only form. As another example of hypertext, HyperCard documents or "stacks" are popular for Macintosh computers.

Jump Page A Web Page that consists mostly of links (or "jumps") to other documents. The is a popular type of Home Page, that directs the user where to find various categories of information.

Link See hyperlink.

Markup "Markup" refers to the marks that a human editor puts in a document to indicate formatting. It is now extended to include formatting codes in a computer file that describe how to display the document. A familiar example is the WordPerfect codes in the "Reveal Codes" view. HTML Tags are another example of computer markup. Unlike WordPerfect codes, HTML codes are plain text and can be read and edited using a text editor such as Notepad.

Markup Language A system of computer markup codes. HTML or Hypertext Markup Language is a Markup Language. Another example is SGML or Standardized General Markup Language. HTML is actually defined using SGML.

Methods In Web usage, the method that is to be used in retreiving a file from a Server.

Examples:

http

HyperText Transport Protocol, the method for retreiving HTML files from a Web Server.

ftp

File Transport Protocol. This is the most general Internet method for transferring files from one computer to another. If you use your Web Browser to download a program file from the Internet, such as Internet Assistant for Word, or the latest version of Netscape Navigator, you are using the ftp method. There are also separate ftp clients and servers specificially for transferring all types of files over the Internet.

Netscape Commonly used as to mean the Web Browser developed by the Netscape Corporation. But the Netscape corporation has developed a wide variety of Web-related programs. The Netscape Enterprise Server, for example, is a very popular Web Server, with versions for all major computer platforms. So calling the Netscape Web Browser just "Netscape" is being vague. Not that the Netscape Corporation is complaining.

Netscape Navigator Navigator is the name of the Netscape Corporation's Web Browser.

Proprietary file format A proprietary file format generally has a specification or description that is held as a proprietary secret by the corporation that developed the format. This means that only that corporation's programs can work with that file format, since no one else is really sure what the format is.

Unix A computer operating system that has multiprocessing and networking built in. Currently, Unix and its many derivatives are currently the most powerful small computers in existence. It has a reputation for being quirky, non-standard, and difficult to work with. However, Unix-based Web Servers were the first full-featured Web Servers, and much of the Web language and methods are based on Unix terminology and technology.

URL Universal Resource Locator. A URL specifies which file to retreive and which method to use. The URL is contained in the Markup Language for an HTML hypertext link, and is displayed on the status bar at the bottom of many Web Browsers. The URL for the currently-displayed document is typically displayed in a text box at the top of the Browser. A typical URL looks like method://Server Name/filename. For example, the method might be http (Hypertext Transport Protocol, the Server Name might be www.cll.wayne.edu and the filename might be /dbowen/welcome.htm. Clicking on this link would cause the Web Server www.cll.wayne.edu to be located, and request that it send the file C:\DBOWEN\WELCOME.HTM back to the requesting Browser using the hypertext transport protocol. There is some clue in the URL as to what type of Web Server will be used, called the "domain". "COM" refers Web Server in the corporate or commercial domain, "EDU" refers to a Web Server in an educational institution, "GOV" referes to government, and "ORG" to a private non-commercial organization. The front parts of the address, which can vary in number, are given to the first unit in the appropriate domain that requests that address. If the Ford modeling agency had requested www.ford.com before the Ford Corporation did, www.ford.com would be full of pictures of glamorous people with hourly rates.

Web The World Wide Web (definition at the top)

Web address URL, Universal Resource Locater

Web Browser A computer program used for viewing Web content. Also, a Web Client. In general, a Browser is a program used for viewing and finding your way around in a large file or set of files. It has a forward or next button, a back or previous button, it keeps track of where you hazve been, it can set up bookmarks for useful locations, and it can search the information. A Web Browser has all of these characteristics. Examples of popular Web Browsers are the various versions of Netscape navigator, and the various versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Web Client A computer program used for viewing Web content. Also, a Web Browser.

Web Content Used variously. Always includes text and graphics files. May also include audio and video.

Web document An HTML or HyperText document. It can also include any attached files such as graphics, audio, and video.

Web graphic A computer graphic that can be viewed by a Web Browser, and so can be part of a Web Page.

Types of graphic formats:

Bitmapped graphic

In a bitmapped graphic, the picture is defined by specifying the color (including the related color aspect of luninance or brightness) at each pixel or location on the screen. A typical VGA monitor, for example, is 640 pixels wide by 480 pixels high. The size or area of the graphic in pixels is one factor determining the size of the graphic file. The other factor is the "color depth", or number of bytes or bits of color information for each pixel. A typical Web graphic has one byte of color information per pixel. A graphic taking up one quarter of the screen would have a size of 320 pixels wide * 240 pixels high times one byte per pixel color depth, or 320 * 240 * 1 = 76,800. This would be the file size, except that most graphics files are compressed by approximately half, and have some other information in addition, so such a graphic might have a files size of 40 kB (40 kilo bytes, or 40,000 bytes). This would be a fairly large file, and could take a long time to download, annoying your customers. Lesson: large graphics on your Web Pages should either be VERY beautiful or entertaining or VERY useful. All Web graphics formats (GIF and JPEG or JPF) are bitmapped graphics. This allows very fine control of colors, shapes, shadings, etc, but can make editing difficult, since bitmapped formats loose all information about whether a shape is a line or another shape, or text, and so on. A typical editing task is to change the color of certain pixels, one by one, for example to sharpen an edge.

Vector graphic

Besides bitmapped graphics, the other general category for graphics files is vector graphics. In vector graphic formats, an object reatins its identity in the file, and is described in terms of what type of object it is (line, square, text, etc.), where it is, what color it is, and so on. This makes vector graphics formats easier to edit. Engineering graphics are universally vector files. Typically, editing a vector file involves selecting a shape and moving it, rotating it, or similar operations. All Web graphics, however, are bitmapped formats.

Types of Web graphics:

GIF graphic (bitmapped)

This is the most popular Web graphic format, and is identified by the extension gif. It is the format of choice for shapes with mostly solid colors, rather than color gradients. It is also unique in supporting several useful effects, described below. GIF is a generic format, and there are many GIF editors.

Animated GIF (GIF subtype)

Uniquely, the GIF format can be used for animation. In an animated GIF, the individual frames are drawn, and then assembled into a single file, and each image in turn is displayed for a specified interval, producing the animation effect. The animation can play itself out and end up displaying the last image from then on, or the animation can loop endlessly, going back to first frame after the last one. This requires reloading the entire image from the Web Server. Speical software is required for assembling the individual frames, but any GIF editor can be used to produce the individual frames.

Progressive GIF (GIF subtype)

A progressive GIF displays quickly but with poor detail at first, and then the image is refined into finer and finer detail as it loads. This can sometimes make your user be patient while a large graphic is loading, since something is visibly happening. However, progressive graphics actually take a much longer total loading time, so knowledgeable users will be annoyed that you are pulling this scam on them.

Transparent GIF (GIF subtype)

Transparency is another useful effect that is uniquely supported by the GIF format. One color, typically the background, can be specified as being transparent. This means that if it is displayed on a white background, that color is displayed as white, while if it is displayed on a gray background, that color is displayed as gray. This has the effect of having the graphic seem to be floating on the page under all conditions, without having a square frame in another color. This can make a graphic appear round, while intrinsically the graphic shapes are all square. "GIF" stands for Graphics Interchange Format. There are some annoying copyright issues if you are developing a computer program to edit GIF files, but those issues do not affect users of GIF editors, or users of programs to display GIF files.

JPEG graphic

This is the second Web graphics format. It is supposed to be the best format to user for photographs and other pictures with fine color gradients. Some authors have said that it produces smaller files, but this is not always correct. If a graphic has solid colors, the GIF format has superior compression and GIF files will be smaller.

JPG graphic

Same as JPEG in the 8.3 world.

Web Page A Web document. This generally refers to a complete file, even if it takes up many screens or prints out over many pieces of paper.

Web Server When you view a Web Page, it got to your computer thanks to a Web Server. In viewing a series of pages, you can be chanign from one Web Server to another without even knowing it.

Web Site This can have at least two meanings. This term can be used synomously with Web Server, except that it emphasizes the content instead of the action of serving. It can also refer to a subsection on a Web Server. For example, if a unit is hosted on another Web Server, it will typically have a subsection on the Web Server. This makes the URL longer, since the subdirectory has to be specified, but the unit can honestly say that it has a Web site.

www Same as World Wide Web or the Web. It is also a common first element in a Web address or URL, for example www.cll.wayne.edu, and signifies that this is the unit's Web Site. Contrary to what some believe, it is not in any qay required or even recommended. The Web Site for the Flexible Learning System at Wayne State University is, for example, fls.cll.wayne.edu.

WYSIWYG "What You See Is What You Get", meaning, in the case of the Web, that what you see in your HTML editor is what the user will see using his/her Web Browser.