A Guide to Web Terminology
The Internet has become an integral part of our daily life. Individuals and businesses use the Internet for a variety of purposes regularly. Web surfers browse for information, news, weather, sports, shopping, conduct financial transactions and dozens of other purposes.
Users on the Internet communicate in special ways and use many terms that are unique to the web. Terms such as applet, browser and flash are used on a regular basis. Here is a large selection of Internet terms to help you understand the terminology of the Internet.
API – Stands for Application Programming Interface. API allows independent programmers to develop newly created application services, using an open application.
ASPs – Is an abbreviation for Application Service Providers. These are companies that rent specialized applications that help businesses and organizations provide additional services with less cost.
Bit Torrent – A peer-to-peer system that legally shares files such as legal software updates, movies and other resources.
Cloudware – Refers to software that only exists on the Internet. There is no material product that resides on your computer or disks.
Cloud Computing - Cloud computing is a set of pooled computing resources delivered over the Internet.
Apache – The most common web server software presently being used on the internet.
Applet - Java program that can be embedded into a web page.
Application Server - Piece of software that makes available another piece of software over a network.
Bandwidth - The amount of available data used by communication resources such as the Internet. It refers the amount of data that is used to download things or the amount of data available to download.
Binary - Information that consists solely of ones and zeroes, which is the language of computers.
Bit – Is a single digit number that’s in base of 2 (either a zero or one). Bandwidth usage is measured in bits-per-second.
Blog – Refers to an online journal. Blogs can be either personal or professional in tone.
BPS - Stands for bit-per-second, the most universal measurement of how quickly data is transferred from place to place.
Browser - Any client software that allows a computer or device to access the Internet (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, etc…).
Byte - Set of bits that make up a single character – there are usually 8 bits to a byte.
Certificate Authority - Issuer of online security certificates that shows if a web site is verified as safe.
Cookie - Information that web pages save and send back as a way to recognize a user so that on succeeding visits, the users are easily recognized.
Cyberspace - Refers to the Internet and all the information stored on it.
DHTML - Stands for Dynamic HyperText Markup Language. It’s used to refer to pages that use HTML, JavaScript and CCS to allow users to interact with a web page or show simply animation.
Domain – Is a name that identifies a web site and separates it from other sites. Often, the domain name will have 2 or more parts that are separated by dots (i.e. yahoo.com, usa.gov, Harvard.edu or mail.yahoo.com).
Download - The transfer of data – usually in the form of files – from one computer to another.
DNS - Stands for Domain Name System which helps browsers navigate the Internet by translating the IP address into an address that is easier to remember (i.e. 111.111.111.1 into www.yahoo.com).
Email – Messages either text or graphical that are sent from one server to another via the internet.
Firewall - Software and hardware that communicate with each other to help protect a computer by separating it into two or more parts on a network, making it more difficult to be hacked.
Flash – Technology that is used for Internet animation, originated by Macromedia.
Hacker – An intruder who attempts to enter a site for the purpose of causing intentional damage.
FTP - Stands for File Transfer Protocol which is a method of moving files between two separate sites on the internet.
Gateway - Hardware or software that translates between two different protocols.
GIF - Stands for Graphic Interchange Format, a type of image file that is commonly used for animated images on webpages.
Homepage – This phrase either refers to the first page browser loads when it opens or the main page for any website.
Host - A computer and/or network facility that stores data that is available to be accessed by other computers.
HTML - Stands for HyperText Markup Language, the coding that creates documents for use on the Internet.
HTTP - Stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol, the protocol that tells browsers where to go to find information.
Hypertext - Any kind of text that contains a link to some other site, commonly found in documents where clicking on a word or words opens up a different web site.
IP Address - Number that’s unique to every computer system on the Internet.
ISP – Refers to Internet Service Provider, which is any business that provides Internet access to individuals or businesses.
Java – Is a programming language that is used to create systems that involve more than one computer by way of a network.
Javascript - Refers to a programming language used in web pages that’s included in HTML files.
Server - Computer that provides explicit services to the client software running on that system, often managing a variety of computer operations.
Social Networking – Joining groups and websites where you will find people with similar interests. Individuals and businesses use social networks such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter to Share online experiences with others.
Virus - Harmful piece of computer programming that interferes with normal computer and internet operations.
References -
© 2011-2013 Rackspace US, Inc.
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
See license specifics and DISCLAIMER
0 Comments
Add new comment