WWW

Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first proposal for the World Wide Web in March 1989 and
his second proposal in May 1990. Together with Belgian systems engineer Robert Cailliau,
this was formalised as a management proposal in November 1990. This outlined the principal
concepts and it defined important terms behind the Web. The document described a
"hypertext project" called "WorldWideWeb" in which a "web" of "hypertext documents"
could be viewed by “browsers”.

By the end of 1990, Tim Berners-Lee had the first Web server and browser
(WoridWideWeb/Nexus) up and running at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear
Research. It is the world's largest particle physics laboratory), demonstrating his
ideas. He developed the code for his Web server on a NeXT computer. To prevent it being
accidentally switched off, the computer had a hand-written label in red ink: "This machine is
a server. DO NOT POWER IT DOWN!!"

info.cern.ch was the address of the world's first website and Web server, running on a NeXT
computer at CERN. The first Web page address
was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html

This page contained links to information about the WWW project itself, including a
description of hypertext, technical details for creating a Web server, and links to other Web
servers as they became available.

The WWW design allowed easy access to existing information and an early web page linked
to information useful to CERN scientists (e.g. the CERN phone book and guides for using
CERN’s central computers). A search facility relied on keywords - there were no search
engines in the early years.

Berners-Lee’s original Web browser running on NeXT computers showed his vision and had
many of the features of current Web browsers.

Going global
Thanks to the efforts of Paul Kunz and Louise Addis, the first Web server in the US came
online in December 1991, once again in a particle physics laboratory: the Stanford Linear
Accelerator Center (SLAC) in California. At this stage, there were essentially only two kinds
of browser. One was the original development version, which was sophisticated but available
only on NeXT machines. The other was the ‘line-mode’ browser, which was easy to install
and run on any platform but limited in power and user-friendliness

Early in 1993, the National Centre for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the
University of Illinois released a first version of its Mosaic browser. This software ran in the X
Window System environment, popular in the research community, and offered friendly
window-based interaction. Shortly afterwards the NCSA released versions also for the PC
and Macintosh environments. The existence of reliable user-friendly browsers on these
popular computers had an immediate impact on the spread of the WWW. The European
Commission approved its first web project (WISE) at the end of the same year, with CERN
as one of the partners. On 30 April 1993, CERN made the source code of WorldWideWeb
available on a royalty-free basis, making it free software. By late 1993 there were over 500
known web servers, and the WWW accounted for 1% of internet traffic, which seemed a lot
in those days.

Initial Concepts and Motivations:

 Information Sharing:
o Tim Berners-Lee, working at CERN, recognized the challenge of
managing and sharing information among researchers across the globe.
o He sought to create a system that would allow for easy access and
exchange of research data.
 Hypertext:
o The concept of hypertext, where documents are linked together, was a
crucial foundation.
o This allowed for non-linear navigation of information, enabling users to
follow connections between related documents.
 Decentralization:
o Berners-Lee aimed for a decentralized system, where information could
be stored and accessed from various locations without central control.
o This was important for ensuring accessibility and preventing single
points of failure
The evolution of web browsers is a dynamic story marked by intense competition and rapid
technological advancement. Here's a breakdown of the key stages:

Early Days:

 WorldWideWeb (Nexus):
o Developed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990, this was the first web browser. It was
text-based and used on NeXT computers.

 Mosaic:
o In 1993, NCSA Mosaic emerged, marking a turning point. It was the first
widely popular graphical web browser, capable of displaying images inline
with text. This made the web much more accessible and appealing to a broader
audience.

The Browser Wars:

 Netscape Navigator:
o In 1994, Netscape Navigator was released, quickly becoming the dominant
browser. It introduced many user-friendly features and drove the
commercialization of the web.
 Internet Explorer:
o Microsoft responded with Internet Explorer, leading to the "browser wars" of
the late 1990s. Microsoft's integration of Internet Explorer with Windows gave
it a significant advantage, and it eventually surpassed Netscape in market
share.

The Modern Era:

 Mozilla Firefox:
o Born from the open-source Mozilla project (which had its roots in Netscape),
Firefox emerged in 2004. It emphasized open web standards and provided a
strong alternative to Internet Explorer.
 Safari:
o Apple's Safari browser, introduced in 2003, became the default browser for
macOS. It is known for its performance and integration with Apple's
ecosystem.
 Google Chrome:
o Launched in 2008, Google Chrome revolutionized web browsing with its
speed, simplicity, and security. It quickly gained popularity and became the
dominant browser.