Internet Glossary

A

Applet

A Java program downloaded by the the user's browser from within another application program.   The browser runs the applet from the user's computer.

ASP

Active Server Pages.   A standard file of code to be perfomed on the web server rather than the user's computer to interpret information sent between application programs.   It has the extension .asp.   ASP code is translated to HTML code before the document is sent to the user.   Either JScript, or VBScript, or JavaScript can be used to create ASP files.   Competing standards are Cold Fusion and CGI.

B

Bandwidth

Another name for speed of data transmission over the Internet, viz., 54 Kbps (Kilobits per second), 2 MBps (Megabytes per second), etc.

BMP

Bit-mapped Graphics.   One of several image formats acceptable for transmission via the Internet, such as TIFF, JPG, and GIF image formats.

Broadband

High-speed data transmission in which a cable can carry several channels of information at one time.   Contrasts with simple baseband, or single-channel, transmission used in ordinary telephone lines.

Browser

A program on the user computer used to view pages and navigate the WWW.   It translates computer code into human language.   The two most popular browsers are Internet Explorer and Netscape.   These two browsers usually follow the W3C standards for interpreting code, but they also include some features that are incompatible with each other and the W3C standards too.

C

Cable

A large number of data transmission wires wound together, but insulated from each other.   Cable is used by TV because it must transmit much data simultaneously.   Speeds ("bandwidth") of 100 Mbps (megabits per second) are now available.   Cable and DSL are popular among heavy computer users because they speed up the up-and-downloading of internet information.   In contrast, conventional telelephone lines operate at a maximum of 54 Kbps (kilobits per second), so loading internet documents is slower via telephone.   A special cable modem (modulator-demodulator) is required by the computer to convert digital to analog data and back to digital data.

CGI

Common Gateway Interface.   A computer program interface standard resident on the web server that enables web browsers to exchange data within computer programs located on the web server.   When a web user computer applications program sends information to another applications program on the web server, CGI assures that the information is formatted properly. It is used often with form "buttons" to retrieve data.   It is often written in the Perl programming language.   Competing standards are PHP, Active Server Pages (.asp), and Cold Fusion.

Cold Fusion

A web-based server standard used to develop database-to-web-page e-business applications using templates instead of individual HTML pages.   Competing standards are ASP and CGI

Cookie

Data sent by a visited web site to be stored on the user computer, so that when the web site is visited again this user data is used, instead of downloading it again at the user computer.   This speeds the downloading.   The user can arrange his/her computer to not accept cookies as a security measure, but this slows down the downloading.

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets.   Code that enables the author to specify non-standard format templatess that can be used across multiple web pages.   This code can be placed within HTML code.   Unfortunately, different browsers handle CSS in different ways, so the results must be tested on alternate browsers to assure acceptable results.   "Cascading" refers to combining style information from different sources.

D

DSL

Digital Subscriber Line.   Another way to send data over regular telephone lines that is much faster than the regular lines.   Speeds are about 100 Mbps (Megabits per second), compared to 54 Kbps (Kilobits per second) on the regular line.   DLS offered by phone companies competes with cable offered by cable companies.

Domain Name

The unique address of a computer on the Internet.
For example, the www.mikalac.com of the URL http://www.mikalac.com/www/webgloss.html is the domain name.
The http:// is the protocol.   The /www/webgloss.html are the directory and file name, respectively.)

DoS Attack

Denial of Service Attack.   An attempt by hackers to deny the service of a server by flooding it with useless data, disconnecting it, denying access by users, etc.

DOS

(Microsoft) Disk Operating System, a text (non-graphical) interface, whereby the user writes text commands that enable the computer to perform tasks.   DOS requires more technical knowledge than a GUI, so the GUI has replaced DOS for just about every computer command.

E

ECMAScriptl

An international standard JavaScript that resolved the differences between JScript and Javascript" to make JavaScript interpreted the same way on the Netscape and Explorer browsers.

Email

Electronic mail.   The way messages are sent via the Internet and Web.   Email uses the SMTP protocol, in contrast to browsers that use the HTTP protocol.

F

Flash

Macromedia Flash.   A media player for transferring animation for logos onto web pages.   This system is much faster than traditional bit-map animations.   It delivers animations continuously to the web page rather than first downloading the entire animation file.   Flash also can be used to stream audio files onto the web pages.

FTP

File Transfer Protocol.   A communications protocol (ftp://) used by file servers to transfer files across the WWW.

G

GIF

Graphics Interchange Format.   A graphics format acceptable for display on browsers.   GIF is limited to 256 colors, so photographs may appear grainy.   However, a GIF image takes much less storage space and loads faster than a JPG image.   GIF is better than JPG for small text, line drawings and simple graphics where it has better clarity and sharpness.

GUI

Graphical User Interface.   A monitor display that uses symbols, icons, and a pointer (mouse) to enable the computer user to do things on the computer.   An example is the Microsoft Windows GUI.   A GUI contrasts with DOS, a text (non-graphical) interface.

H

HTML

Hypertext Markup Language.   A computer language used by browsers to translate computer language into human language.   HTML is a subset of the SGML programming language.   HTML is universally used by web browsers to read documents.

HTTP

Hypertext Transfer Protocol.   A communications protocol (http://) used to tranfer files across the WWW.

I

Internet

A network of computers and computer networks that connect together globally via telephone lines, cable and satellites.   It is not the same as the WWW, although the two terms are often used interchangeably.

J

Java

A compiled programming language that is independent of the computer operating system.   This feature makes it useful for web page programming to make them capable of being run on any computer located on the WWW.   Other popular competing compiled programs are C and Basic.

JavaScript

A programming language developed by Netscape, that can be inserted directly into an HTML file without compiling the code.   Instead, the code is interpreted by the user's browser.   This feature makes it a scripting language, or script, for short.   Therefore, users don't have to learn compiling techniques of the more complex programs such as Java, C, and Basic.   JavaScript code is more acceptable on various browsers and therefore it is more popular than Microsoft's JScript and VBScript, which are competing scripting languages.   Contrary to popular belief, JavaScript is NOT a variant of Java.   It was developed independently of Java and chose the name to gain the popularity of Java.

JPG

Also, JPEG.   Joint Photographic Experts Group.   A graphics format acceptable for display on browsers.   A JPG (JPEG) image can use all 16.7 million colors and has higher resolution than GIF images.   A disadvantage of JPG image is that it uses more storage and takes longer to load on a browser than a GIF image.   It is desirable for photographs and complex graphics, but less desirable than GIF for text, line drawings and simple graphics, where it loses clarity and sharpness.

JScript

A variant of JavaScript developed by Microsoft using slightly different script commands.   Some browsers support JavaScript and others support JScript.   Therefore, it is a good idea to test code on all browsers to assure the results are satisfactory.

K

Kilo

Kilo is the greek prefix that means "thousand", as in kilobyte (KB), kilobit (Kb), kilowatt (KW), etc.   Since computers use the binary number system, a "kilo" in the computer world is actually 1024 (2¹⁰).   See Mega.

L

LAN

Local Area Network.   A computer network restricted to a single geographic area, usually to a single building of an organization.   In contrast, a WAN (Wide Area Network) covers a large geographical area.

M

Mega

Mega is the greek prefix that means "large", but is often used to denote "million", as in megabyte, megabit, megawatt, etc.   Since computers use the binary number system, a "mega" in the computer world is actually 1,048,576 (2²⁰).   See also Kilo.

Modem

Modulator-Demodulator.   An electrical device with software programs that allows a computer to transmit and receive data over telephone and cable lines.   Computers create digital (discrete) data, but telephone and cable data are analog, i.e., use electrical (continuous or non-discrete) data.   A modem coverts computer digital data into analog data and back to computer digital data at the other end of the transmission.   External modems use an RS-232 computer port.   Telephone modems and constructed differently from cable modems, so they cannot be interchanged.   Internal modems come on a card that is placed into a computer expansion slot.   The fastest modems operated at 54Kbps (kilobits per second).   For faster speeds (i.e., "bandwidth"), the user must use DSL or Cable broadband connections.

N

NIC

Network Interface Card, or "Nick".   The physical connection between a computer and the network cable.   A computer must have a NIC to connect to any network.

O

Open Source Software

Software with code that can be read, used and changed by any user, usually by license.

P

Perl

Practical Extraction and Report Language.   A programming language optimized to scan text files, extract information from those files and print reports based on this information.   Its strong text processing features makes it a desirable language for CGI scripts.

Plug-in

Programs that extend the capabilities of their main programs, such as browser programs, like Netscape and Internet Explorer.   They are often used to run audio or video messages.   Many plug-ins can be downloaded from the Internet.   Some of these are free and others are not.

PNG

Portable Network Graphics.   A graphics format to replace GIF because the latter is patent-protected.   However, unlike GIF, it is a single-image format; thus, it cannot be used for animation where several images are run together in tandem.   An advantage over GIF is that PNG is lossless in compression.   PNG supports three main image types: truecolor, grayscale and palett-based.   (JPG supports the first two; GIF supports only the third.)

Protocol

A set of communications rules used by computers to send and receive data to one another.   Examples are HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), PPP (Point to Point Protocol), SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), etc.   For example, the http:// of the URL http://www.mikalac.com/www/webgloss.html is the protocol.   The www.mikalac.com is the domain name and the /www/webgloss.html are the directory and file name, respectively.)

Q

Queue

In the computer world, a list of documents or instructions waiting to be processed, such as a printer queue of documents to be printed, a microprocessor queue of machine code to be processed, etc.

R

Router

A computer or software that transmits messages from sending computer to receiving computer using computer addresses (URL).

S

Script

A small program that needs no compiler to translate human language into computer language.   A script is an extension of HTML   It is run from the user or server browser.

Search Engine

A program that used key words to search the Internet for web pages related to a specific topic.   http://www.google.com and http://www.askjeeves.com are examples.

SGML

Standard Generalized Markup Language.   An international standard programming language for representing text in electronic form.   HTML and XHTML are subsets of SGMI that are easier to use.

Streamlining Media

Audio and video programs that allow browsers to view and hear images and sound continuously as it is fed to the browser via a player.

T

TIFF

Tagged Image File Format.   One of several formats for saving images. TIFF format is raw information in any resolution and color.   Image editors often save in this format before editing to another format because if the edited version is undesirable, the editor can start again without loss of information.   This is not true for other formats, such as JPG and GIF image formats.

U

URL

Uniform Resource Locator.   The standard way for addressing data on the WWW.   It is the official address of the computer.   Examples:

http://mysystem.com
ftp://mysystem.com
gopher://mysystem.com
mailto:joe_shmo@aol.com

V

VBScript

Visual Basic Scripting Edition.   A subset of the Visual Basic programming language developed by Microsoft.   It enables Web authors to include interact controls, such as buttons and scrollbars, on web pages.   Only Microsoft's Internet Explorer accepts VBScript.

W

W3C

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).   A group of people based at MIT who support and define languages and protocols used on the WWW.   It decides standards and enforces rules.   It also provides free products.   Its home page is http://www.w3.org.

WWW

Word Wide Web, or "Web".   A method of communicating among computers linked together via the Internet.   The Web uses the HTTP protocol, one of many internet languages.   The Web uses browsers to access Web documents, which can be text, graphics, video and audio.   The internet uses other protocols besides HTTP to exchange data.

X

XHTML

Extensible Hypertext Markup Language.   An extension of HTML that allows for custom code.   XTML is a subset of XML, in turn a subset of SGML.

XML

Extensible Markup Language.   A subset of SGML that allows use of custom code.

XSL

Extensible Stylesheet Language.   A language for expressing stylesheets.   It offers more options than CSS and is compatible with XML.

Y

Z