World Wide Web(WWW)

WWW stands for World Wide Web. A technical definition of the World Wide
Web is : all the resources and users on the Internet that are using the Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

A broader definition comes from the organization that Web inventor Tim
Berners-Lee helped found, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

The World Wide Web is the universe of network-accessible information, an

embodiment of human knowledge.

In simple terms, The World Wide Web is a way of exchanging information

between computers on the Internet, tying them together into a vast collection of
interactive multimedia resources.

Internet and Web is not the same thing: Web uses internet to pass over the
information.

key features of World Wide Web

1. Hypertext: Allows users to create and share links between documents. 2.
Web Pages: Information is presented in the form of web pages, which can
contain text, images, videos, and other multimedia content.
3. HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol): A protocol that enables
communication between web servers and clients (browsers).
4. URLs (Uniform Resource Locators): Unique addresses used to identify and
locate web pages and other online resources.
5. Hyperlinks: Allow users to navigate between web pages and websites.
6. Web Browsers: Software applications (e.g., Google Chrome, Mozilla
Firefox) that enable users to access and view web pages.
7. Web Servers: Computers that store and manage websites, making them
accessible to users via the internet.
8. HTML (Hypertext Markup Language): A standard markup language used
to create web pages.
9. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): A styling language used to control the layout
and appearance of web pages.
10. Interactivity: The web allows for interactive elements, such as forms,
buttons, and animations, which enhance the user experience.
Evolution

World Wide Web was created by Timothy Berners Lee in 1989 at CERN in
Geneva. World Wide Web came into existence as a proposal by him, to allow
researchers to work together effectively and efficiently at CERN. Eventually it
became World Wide Web.

The following diagram briefly defines evolution of World Wide Web:

WWW Architecture

WWW architecture is divided into several layers as shown in the following

diagram:
Identifiers and Character Set
Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is used to uniquely identify resources on
the web and UNICODE makes it possible to built web pages that can be read
and write in human languages.

Syntax

XML (Extensible Markup Language) helps to define common syntax in

semantic web.

Data Interchange

Resource Description Framework (RDF) framework helps in defining core

representation of data for web. RDF represents data about resource in graph
form.
Taxonomies

RDF Schema (RDFS) allows more standardized description of taxonomies and

other ontological constructs.

Ontologies

Web Ontology Language (OWL) offers more constructs over RDFS. It comes
in following three versions:

In brief, ontology, as a branch of philosophy, is the science of what is, of the

kinds and structures of objects. In simple terms, ontology seeks the
classification and explanation of entities. Ontology is about the object of
inquiry, what you set to examine.

• OWL Lite for taxonomies and simple constraints.

• OWL DL for full description logic support.
• OWL for more syntactic freedom of RDF

Rules

RIF and SWRL offers rules beyond the constructs that are available from
RDFs and OWL. Simple Protocol and RDF Query Language (SPARQL) is
SQL like language used for querying RDF data and OWL Ontologies.

Proof

All semantic and rules that are executed at layers below Proof and their result
will be used to prove deductions.

Cryptography

Cryptography means such as digital signature for verification of the origin of

sources is used.
User Interface and Applications

On the top of layer User interface and Applications layer is built for user
interaction.

WWW Operation

WWW works on client- server approach. Following steps explains how the web
works:

1. User enters the URL (say

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_network) of the web page in
 the address bar of web browser.
2. Then browser requests the Domain Name Server for the IP address
corresponding to www.tutorialspoint.com.
3. After receiving IP address, browser sends the request for web page to the
web server using HTTP protocol which specifies the way the browser and
web server communicates.
4. Then web server receives request using HTTP protocol and checks its
search for the requested web page. If found it returns it back to the web
browser and close the HTTP connection.
5. Now the web browser receives the web page, It interprets it and display
the contents of web page in web browser’s window.

Future
There had been a rapid development in field of web. It has its impact in almost
every area such as education, research, technology, commerce, marketing etc. So
the future of web is almost unpredictable.

Apart from huge development in field of WWW, there are also some technical
issues that W3 consortium has to cope up with.
User Interface

Work on higher quality presentation of 3-D information is under deveopment.

The W3 Consortium is also looking forward to enhance the web to full fill
requirements of global communities which would include all regional languages
and writing systems.

Technology

Work on privacy and security is under way. This would include hiding
information, accounting, access control, integrity and risk management.

Architecture
There has been huge growth in field of web which may lead to overload the
internet and degrade its performance. Hence more better protocol are required to
be developed.
FTP
o FTP stands for File transfer protocol.
o FTP is a standard internet protocol provided by TCP/IP used for
transmitting the files from one host to another.
It is mainly used for transferring the web page files from their creator to
o

the computer that acts as a server for other computers on the internet. o It is
also used for downloading the files to computer from other servers.

Objectives of FTP

o It provides the sharing of files.

o It is used to encourage the use of remote computers.
o It transfers the data more reliably and efficiently.

Why FTP?

Although transferring files from one system to another is very simple and
straightforward, but sometimes it can cause problems. For example, two systems
may have different file conventions. Two systems may have different ways to
represent text and data. Two systems may have different directory structures.
FTP protocol overcomes these problems by establishing two connections
between hosts. One connection is used for data transfer, and another connection
is used for the control connection.

Mechanism of FTP
The above figure shows the basic model of the FTP. The FTP client has three
components: the user interface, control process, and data transfer process. The
server has two components: the server control process and the server data
transfer process.

There are two types of connections in FTP:

o Control Connection: The control connection uses very simple rules for
communication. Through control connection, we can transfer a line of
command or line of response at a time. The control connection is made
between the control processes. The control connection remains connected
during the entire interactive FTP session.
o Data Connection: The Data Connection uses very complex rules as data
types may vary. The data connection is made between data transfer
processes. The data connection opens when a command comes for
transferring the files and closes when the file is transferred.
FTP Clients

o FTP client is a program that implements a file transfer protocol which

allows you to transfer files between two hosts on the internet. o It allows a
user to connect to a remote host and upload or download the files.
o It has a set of commands that we can use to connect to a host, transfer the
files between you and your host and close the connection.
o The FTP program is also available as a built-in component in a Web
browser. This GUI based FTP client makes the file transfer very easy and
also does not require to remember the FTP commands.
Advantages of FTP:

o Speed: One of the biggest advantages of FTP is speed. The FTP is one of
the fastest way to transfer the files from one computer to another computer. o
Efficient: It is more efficient as we do not need to complete all the
operations to get the entire file.
o Security: To access the FTP server, we need to login with the username
and password. Therefore, we can say that FTP is more secure. o Back &
forth movement: FTP allows us to transfer the files back and forth.
Suppose you are a manager of the company, you send some information to
all the employees, and they all send information back on the same server.

Disadvantages of FTP:

o The standard requirement of the industry is that all the FTP transmissions
should be encrypted. However, not all the FTP providers are equal and not
all the providers offer encryption. So, we will have to look out for the
FTP providers that provides encryption.
o FTP serves two operations, i.e., to send and receive large files on a
network. However, the size limit of the file is 2GB that can be sent. It also
doesn't allow you to run simultaneous transfers to multiple receivers.
o Passwords and file contents are sent in clear text that allows unwanted
eavesdropping. So, it is quite possible that attackers can carry out the
brute force attack by trying to guess the FTP password.
o It is not compatible with every system.
 HTTP
o HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol.
o It is a protocol used to access the data on the World Wide Web (www). o
The HTTP protocol can be used to transfer the data in the form of plain text,
hypertext, audio, video, and so on.
o This protocol is known as HyperText Transfer Protocol because of its
efficiency that allows us to use in a hypertext environment where there are
rapid jumps from one document to another document.
o HTTP is similar to the FTP as it also transfers the files from one host to
another host. But, HTTP is simpler than FTP as HTTP uses only one
connection, i.e., no control connection to transfer the files.
o HTTP is used to carry the data in the form of MIME-like format. o MIME
(Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) is an extension of the original
Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) email protocol. It lets users
exchange different kinds of data files, including audio, video, images and
application programs, over email.
o HTTP is similar to SMTP as the data is transferred between client and
server. The HTTP differs from the SMTP in the way the messages are
sent from the client to the server and from server to the client. SMTP
messages are stored and forwarded while HTTP messages are delivered
immediately.

Features of HTTP:

o Connectionless protocol: HTTP is a connectionless protocol. HTTP client

initiates a request and waits for a response from the server. When the
server receives the request, the server processes the request and sends
back the response to the HTTP client after which the client disconnects
the connection. The connection between client and server exist only
during the current request and response time only.
o Media independent: HTTP protocol is a media independent as data can
be sent as long as both the client and server know how to handle the data
content. It is required for both the client and server to specify the content
type in MIME-type header.
 o Stateless: HTTP is a stateless protocol as both the client and server know
each other only during the current request. Due to this nature of the
protocol, both the client and server do not retain the information between
various requests of the web pages.

HTTP Transactions

The above figure shows the HTTP transaction between client and server. The
client initiates a transaction by sending a request message to the server. The
server replies to the request message by sending a response message.

Messages

HTTP messages are of two types: request and response. Both the message types
follow the same message format.
Request Message: The request message is sent by the client that consists of a
request line, headers, and sometimes a body.

Response Message: The response message is sent by the server to the client that
consists of a status line, headers, and sometimes a body.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

o A client that wants to access the document in an internet needs an address

and to facilitate the access of documents, the HTTP uses the concept of
Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
o The Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a standard way of specifying any
 kind of information on the internet.
o The URL defines four parts: method, host computer, port, and path.

Method: The
o
method is the protocol used to retrieve the document from a server. For
example, HTTP.
o Host: The host is the computer where the information is stored, and the
computer is given an alias name. Web pages are mainly stored in the
computers and the computers are given an alias name that begins with the
characters "www". This field is not mandatory.
o Port: The URL can also contain the port number of the server, but it's an
optional field. If the port number is included, then it must come between
the host and path and it should be separated from the host by a colon.
o Path: Path is the pathname of the file where the information is stored. The
path itself contain slashes that separate the directories from the
subdirectories and files.