Glossary of Terms

Active Server Pages (ASP)

With ASP, you can add interactive content to your Web pages or build entire Web applications that use HTML pages as the interface to your visitors. Active Server Pages (ASP) is a server-side scripting environment that you can use to create dynamic Web pages or build powerful Web applications. ASP pages are files that contain HTML tags, text, and script commands. ASP pages can call ActiveX components to perform tasks, such as connecting to a database or performing a business calculation. glossary of terms

Animated GIF

An animated GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) file is a graphic image on a Web page that moves – for example, a twirling icon or a banner with a hand that waves or letters that magically get larger. In particular, an animated GIF is a file in the Graphics Interchange Format specified as GIF89a that contains within the single file a set of images that are presented in a specified order. An animated GIF can loop endlessly (and it appears as though your document never finishes arriving) or it can present one or a few sequences and then stop the animation. Animated GIFs are frequently used in Web ad banners. Java, Flash, and other tools can be used to achieve the same effects as an animated GIF. However, animated GIFs are generally easier to create than comparable images with Java or Flash and usually smaller in size and thus faster to display.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can travel a communications path in a given time, usually measured in seconds. If you think of the communications path as a pipe, then bandwidth represents the width of the pipe that determines how much data can flow through it all at once. Bandwidth: the capacity that a telecommunications medium has for carrying data. For analog or voice communication, bandwidth is measured in the difference between the upper and lower transmission frequencies expressed in cycles per second, or hertz (Hz). For digital communication, bandwidth and transmission speed are usually treated a synonyms and measured in bits per second. glossary of terms

Banner

Also referred to as a banner ad, a banner is a typically rectangular advertisement placed on a Web site, either above, below, or on the sides of the Website’s main content and is linked to the advertiser’s own Website.

Browser

Very often called Web browser, a software application used to locate and display Web pages. The most popular browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Netscape Navigator. There are many other browsers like AOL Browser, Opera, NeoPlanet and many others.

Client

A Client is a workstation or personal computer in a client/server environment. Or one end of the spectrum in a request/supply relationship between programs. glossary of terms

Database

A special way of organizing computer data. It looks like a table with implemented columns and rows for fast access of data from any of the cells in the table. There are many different types of databases but all of them work on the same principle. Databases are very useful for storing and organizing data for later retrieval, very often used for managing accounts, managing user information, e-commerce, creating guest books and bulletin boards, even this page (dictionary) is implemented with database. glossary of terms

DNS

The Domain Name System identifies each computer as a network point on the Internet using an internet protocol address system to translate from domain name to IP and reverse. glossary of terms

Domain Name

A unique name that identifies one or more IP addresses. For example, the domain name “ATAKInteractive.com” represents one IP address. Domain names are used in URLs to identify particular Web pages. Every website that you visit is stored under a domain name.

Domain Name Extension

Part after the dot in the domain name is a domain name extension. In the ATAKInteractive.com domain, the domain extension is .com. There are many other domain name extensions such as .net, .org, .gov, .edu, .mil, .info, .web, .us, .uk, .de, .cc, .it, .mx, .ro, and many others.

Downloading

Downloading is the method by which users access and save or “pull down” software or other files to their own computers from a remote computer, usually via a modem.

E-Commerce

E-Commerce means conducting business on the Internet. It is mostly referred to buying and selling items on line.

Encryption

A way of coding the information in a file or e-mail message so that if the email is intercepted by a third party as it travels over a network, the email cannot be read. Only the persons sending and receiving the information have the key and this makes the mail unreadable to anyone except those persons (your browser does it automatically).

Firewall

A firewall is a software or hardware device, usually an Internet gateway server, which protects the resources of one network from users from other networks. Typically, an enterprise with an intranet that allows its workers access to the wider Internet will want a firewall to prevent outsiders from accessing its own private data resources. glossary of terms

Flash

Browser independent vector and graphic animation technology owned by Adobe Inc., formerly Macromedia. Most browsers support Flash technology and one flash animation looks the same on all browsers.

FTP

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol which is one of the methods of transferring files over the Internet.

GIF

GIF stands for graphics interchange format, and it is a bit-mapped graphics file format used by the World Wide Web. GIF supports color and various resolutions. But it is limited to 256 colors. glossary of terms

Hard Disk Storage

This is the space you have to store your site. Every website is stored on a web server, which is the computer that broadcasts your site to your visitors. Your hard disk storage is how much space you are allocated on that server’s hard drive. Even most robust websites don’t require more than 10 Megs of space, but having more is a nice luxury for storing pictures, video, and graphics.

Home Page

This is the first page (also called index or opening page) of a Web site.

Hosting

Hosting is a service provided by a hosting company that provides a place, via a server (a computer available on the Internet), where websites are stored and made available to website users to view the content of that web site.

HTML

Stands for Hyper Text Markup Language, the authoring and editing language used to create web pages on the World Wide Web.

Internet

The largest global network connecting millions of computers. The Internet is strictly based on TCP/IP protocol for communication between host and server. glossary of terms

Intranet

A private network belonging to an organization, usually a corporation, accessible only by the organization’s members, employees, or others with authorization. An intranet is a network that is contained within an enterprise. It may consist of many interlinked local area networks and also use leased-lines in the wide-area network. It may or may not include connections through one or more gateways to the outside Internet. The main purpose of an intranet is usually to share company information and computing resources among employees. An intranet can also be used to facilitate working in groups and for teleconferences.

IP Address

An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique identifier for a point or host connection on an IP network. An IP address is a 32 bit binary number usually represented as 4 decimal values, each representing 8 bits, in the range 0 to 255 (known as octets) separated by decimal points. It is just a number like 66.46.105.9

Java Applet

A short program written in Java (not JavaScript) that is attached to a World Wide Web page and executed by the browser machine. Java is often used for complicated web applications.

JavaScript

JavaScript is a client-side scripting language that allows dynamic behavior to be specified within HTML documents. Most browsers support java; however some browsers are disabled for JavaScript use.

JPEG (JPG)

Stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. JPEG uses compression technique for color images and therefore some details are lost in the compression yet giving relatively good quality. It is widely used on the Internet and other digital applications.

LAN

A LAN is a network of interconnected workstations sharing the resources of a single processor or server within a relatively small geographic area. Typically, this might be within the area of a small office building. Usually, the server has applications and data storage that are shared in common by multiple workstation users. A local area network may serve as few as four or five users or, in some cases several thousand.

Link

Sometimes called hyperlink. A link is object on the web page. When visitors of a website click with the mouse on that object, the user who clicks is then taken to another web page where the link is pointing to. Different types of links are: text links, graphic links, java links, form links, and some others which are not very important.

MP3

MP3 is the file extension for MPEG, audio layer 3. Layer 3 is one of three coding schemes (layer 1, layer 2 and layer 3) for the compression of audio signals. MP3 files could be embedded into website providing music while visitors are viewing the site. MP3 files are relatively small comparing to other audio files and therefore are quite suitable for transferring over the Internet.

PHP

PHP Hypertext Preprocessor is a server-side, HTML embedded scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages, designed for Windows and UNIX type platforms. In Web programming, PHP is a script language and interpreter that is freely available and used primarily on Linux Web servers. PHP, originally derived from Personal Home Page Tools, now stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, which the PHP FAQ describes as a “recursive acronym.” PHP is an alternative to Microsoft’s Active Server Page (ASP) technology. As with ASP, the PHP script is embedded within a Web page along with its HTML. Before the page is sent to a user that has requested it, the Web server calls PHP to interpret and perform the operations called for in the PHP script. An HTML page that includes a PHP script is typically given a file name suffix of “.php” “.php3,” or “.phtml”. Like ASP, PHP can be thought of as “dynamic HTML pages,” since content will vary based on the results of interpreting the script. PHP is free and offered under an open source license.

POP3

(Post Office Protocol 3) is the most recent version of a standard protocol for receiving e-mail. POP3 is a client/server protocol in which e-mail is received and held for you by your Internet server. Periodically, you (or your client e-mail receiver) check your mail-box on the server and download any mail, probably using POP3. This standard protocol is built into most popular e-mail products, such as Eudora and Outlook Express. POP3 is also built into the Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers. POP3 is designed to delete mail on the server as soon as the user has downloaded it. However, some implementations allow users or an administrator to specify that mail be saved for some period of time. POP can be thought of as a “store-and-forward” service.

Protocol

A formal set of conventions that allow communication between two communicating functional units. Simply said, a protocol is a language that computers use to talk to each other. Of course there are many such languages. Most popular is TCP/IP used officially on the Internet.

Router

On the Internet, a router is a device, or in some cases software in a computer, that directs information packets to the next point toward their destination. The router is connected to at least two networks and decides which way to send each information packet based on its current understanding of the state of the networks connected to. A router is located at any juncture of networks, including each Internet point-of-presence.

Search Engine

A program that performs searching on documents for specified terms or phrases and returns a list of the documents where those terms were found. Search Engines are lately referred to Internet Search Engines. Most popular search engines today are Google, Yahoo!, AskJeeves, MSN, AllTheWeb, Excite, Lycos, AOL, HotBot, and AltaVista.

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an act of increasing the number of visitors to a particular Website by adding appropriate keywords and phrases, and therefore ranking high in the search results. The higher a Website ranks in the results of a search, the greater the chance that your site will be found by a search user. For general and competitive websites it takes a lot of professionalism to tweak the web site in order to be well optimized and search engine friendly.

Server

As the name implies, a server serves information to computers that connect to it. When users connect to a server, they can access programs, files, and other information from the server. Common servers are Web servers, mail servers, and LAN servers. A single computer can have several different server programs running on it.

Spam

Spam is unsolicited e-mail on the Internet. From the sender’s point-of-view, it’s a form of bulk mail, often to a list obtained from a spambot or to a list obtained by companies that specialize in creating e-mail distribution lists. To the receiver, spam usually seems like junk e-mail. Spam is roughly the equivalent to unsolicited telephone marketing calls except that the user pays for part of the message since everyone shares the cost of maintaining the Internet. Spammers typically send a piece of e-mail to a distribution list in the millions, expecting that only a tiny number of readers will respond to their offer. Spam has become a major problem for all Internet users.

SSL

(pronounced as separate letters) Short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private documents via the Internet. SSL uses a cryptographic system that uses two keys to encrypt data – a public key known to everyone and a private or secret key known only to the recipient of the message. Both Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer support SSL, and many Web sites use the protocol to obtain confidential user information, such as credit card numbers. By convention, URLs that require an SSL connection start with “https:” instead of “http:”

Submission Form

Forms are web page “fields” for a user to fill in with information. Online Forms or Submission Forms are an excellent way of collecting and processing information from people visiting a website, as well as allowing them to interact with web pages. Forms are written in HTML and processed by CGI programs. The output can be sent as an e-mail form, stored online, printed, and/or returned to the user as an HTML page.

TCP/IP

TCP/IP is the acronym for Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the suite of communications protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet. TCP/IP uses several protocols, the two main ones being TCP and IP. TCP/IP is built into the UNIX operating system and is used by the Internet, making it the de facto standard for transmitting data over networks. Even network operating systems that have their own protocols, such as NetWare, also support TCP/IP

Thumbnail

A small version of a bigger image on a web page usually containing a hyperlink to a full-size version of the image.

URL

Stands for Uniform Resource Locator, which is a string that supplies the Internet address of a resource on the World Wide Web, along with the protocol by which the resource is accessed. The most common URL type is “http,” which gives the Internet address of a World Wide Web page. Some other URL types are: gopher and ftp.

Video Clip/Glossary of terms

A short video sequence that can be embedded into a web page.

WAN

WAN, or wide area network, distinguishes the broader telecommunication structure from a local area network (LAN). A wide area network may be composed entirely of private structures, but the term seems to also connote the inclusion of public networks and all kinds of transmission media.

Web Application

Web applications are web programs, or real programs, designed to be used on the website using a browser. Examples of web applications would be an e-commerce website, web banking, stock/currency exchanges on the web, web games, and many others. Web applications are becoming very popular due to wide availability of the Internet access.

Web Based E-Mail

Web based e-mail is software on a POP3 server that allows one the luxury, if desired, to access his or her POP accounts by simply using a web-browser. This form of e-mail allows users to send and receive emails via any web-browser by viewing an HTML web page.

Web Page

One of the pages on the web site including, the home page. glossary of terms

Website

A site presence on the World Wide Web. Each website contains a home page (index or opening page), which is the first document users see when they enter the site. glossary of terms

Workstation

A workstation is a client computer (stand alone machine) on a (Local Area Network) or Wide Area Network that is used to run applications and is connected to a server from which it obtains data shared with other computers. Workstation is also used to describe a high-priced PC that uses a high-performance microprocessor and proprietary architecture to create what some call an “open” system.

World Wide Web

A system of Internet servers that support specially formatted documents. The documents are formatted in a script called HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) that supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and video files. This means you can jump from one document to another simply by clicking on hot spots. Not all Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web.