Web Development Glossary

Anonymous FTP

An anonymous FTP site allows Internet users to log in and download files from the computer without having a private userid and password. To login, you typically enter anonymous as the userid and your email address as the password.

Applet

A program, written in the programming language Java, that can be downloaded over a network and launched on the user's computer.

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A set of 128 alphanumeric and special control characters. ASCII files are also known as plain text files.

AU

(.au) - a common audio file format for UNIX systems.

AVI

Audio/Video Interleaved - a common video file format (.avi). Video quality can be very good at smaller resolutions, but files tend to be rather large.

Bandwidth

A measurement of the volume of information that can be transmitted over a network at a given time.

Bitmap File

A common image format (.bmp) defined by a rectangular pattern of pixels.

BPS

Bits Per Second - a measurement of the volume of data that a modem is capable of transmitting.

Cache

A region of memory where frequently accessed data can be stored for rapid access.

CGI

Common Gateway Interface - the specification for how an HTTP server should communicate with server gateway applications.

Client

A program (like a Web browser) that connects to and requests information from a server.

Cookies

The name for files stored on your hard drive by your Web browser that hold information about your browsing habits, like what sites you have visited, which
newsgroups you have read, etc.

Compressed

Data files available for download from the Internet are typically compacted in order to save server space and reduce transfer times. Typical file extensions for compressed files include sea, sit, gz (MAC) zip (DOS/Windows) and tar (UNIX).

Download

The process of copying data file(s) from a remote computer to a local computer. The opposite action is upload where a local file is copied to a server.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions - a collection of common questions and answers on a particular subject.

Freeware

Software that is available for download and unlimited use without charge.

FTP

File Transfer Protocol - a set of rules for exchanging files between computers via the Internet. .

GIF

Graphics Interchange Format - a common image format. Most images seen on web pages are GIF files.

Homepage

The first page of a Web Site.

HTML

HyperText Markup Language - a collection of tags typically used in the development of Web pages.

HTTP

HyperText Transfer Protocol - a set of instructions for communication between a server and a World Wide Web client.

Hyperlink

A connection between two anchors . Clicking on one anchor will take you to the linked anchor. Can be within the same document/page or two totally different documents.
Hypertext:

Hypertext

A document that contains links to other documents, commonly seen in Web pages and help files.

ISDN

Integrated Services Digital Network - a system of all digital, high bandwidth telephone lines allowing for the simultaneous delivery of audio, video and data. Data travels at 128K bps.

IP

Internet Protocol- refers to the set of communication standards that control communications activity on the Internet. An IP address is the number assigned to any Internet-connected computer.

ISP

Internet Service Provider - the company which provides you with a connection to the Internet via either a Dial-up Connection or a Direct Connection.

JPEG

Joint Photographic Experts Group- an image compression format used to transfer color photographs and images over computer networks. Along with GIF, is the most common way photos are moved over the Web.

MPEG

Moving Pictures Expert Group- is an international standard for video compression and desktop movie presentation. A special viewing application is needed to run MPEG files on your computer.

Quicktime

This is a digital video standard developed for Apple Macintosh computers. Special viewing applications are needed to run QuickTime movies.

Search Engine

A tool for searching information on the Internet by topic.

Server

A computer system that manages and delivers information for client computers.

Shareware

Software that is available on a free limited trial basis. Sometimes this is a fully featured product, other times it lacks some of the features of the commerical version. If you find the product
useful, you are expected to register the software, for which in return you will receive the full featured commercial version.

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol - a protocol dictating how email messages are exchanged over the Internet.

T1

A category of leased telephone line service, allowing transfer rates of 1.5 Mbps (megabytes per second) over the Internet.

TCP/IP

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol - this protocol is the foundation of the Internet, an agreed upon set of rules directing computers on how to exchange information with each other.
Other Internet protocols, such as FTP, Gopher and HTTP sit on top of TCP/IP.

Telnet

A protocol for logging onto remote computers from anywhere on the Internet.

Thread

An ongoing message based conversation on a single subject.

TIFF

Tag Image File Format - a popular graphic image file format.

UNIX

A powerful operating system used on the backbone machines of the Internet. World Wide Web servers frequently run on UNIX.

Upload

To copy a file from a local computer connected to the Internet to a remote computer. Opposite is download.

URL

Uniform Resource Locator - the method by which Internet sites are addressed.

WAN

Wide Area Network - a system of connected computers spanning a large geographical area.

WAV

Waveform Audio (.wav) - a common audio file format for DOS/Windows computers.

ZIP

A compressed file format (.zip). Many files available on the Internet are compressed or zipped in order to reduce storage space and transfer times. To uncompress the file, you need a utility like
PKZip (DOS) or WinZip (Windows).