Web Development Glossary
Browser - the program on your computer (such as
Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) that downloads encoded web
pages from the internet and displays them on your screen.
Domain Name - a word or set of characters used to
identify a site on the world wide web. Domain names are registered with a
central registry. For .com domain names the registry is maintained by
Network Solutions Inc. Country specific domain name suffixes (.ca, .us,
etc.) are registered with that country's national registry, which in the
case of Canada is maintained by Internic Inc.
Download - 1. (verb) the process of transferring data from an Internet server or other digital device onto your computer. 2. (noun) the data that is being transferred.
Flash - a program used to create animated web pages. In
order to view flash pages a visitor needs to have a program called
Flash Player installed.
HTML - HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. The
set of encoded instructions that your browser recieves from our web host
telling it how to display this page is written in HTML.
ISP - many people are familiar with this one--the
ubiquitous Internet Service Provider. Some ISPs just allow you to
connect to the Internet, most offer one or more email accounts as part
of their package, and many also have web design and hosting services.
JavaScript - a programming language that is used to
make what is called "dynamic content" in web pages. Having dynamic
content roughly means that a page is able to change, either
automatically or in response to an action taken by the viewer.
Registrar - in order to stake out your claim to a piece
of internet real estate, you need to register a domain name (described
above). The company that you pay to register your domain name is called
your registrar.
Web Host - all Internet web sites are stored on a
computer somewhere, and are accessed by your browser program when you
surf the 'net. The companies that own and operate these computers
(servers) are called web hosts. Once your web site is complete it gets
transferred from your computer to the web host's computer to be viewed
by the public.
SPAM - mention the word SPAM around any "internet
professional" and you're likely to get something between a howl, a heavy
sigh, and a lecture in response. "SPAM", more accurately known as
Unsolicited Commercial E-mail, has become a major plague of the
internet. Advertising anything you could possibly (but would probably
rather not) imagine, SPAM messages now [outnumber legitimate e-mails
netwide,] and can be a very significant concern for small businesses.
(in one instance, a company was recieving an average of about 600 SPAM
messages per day, all coming to the same email addresses as legitimate
mail.) Spamers use automatic computer programs, known as robots, to
"crawl" the internet harvesting unprotected email addresses from web
pages. To combat SPAM, steps need to be taken in the early phase of a
business's web activities. Limiting the instances of email addresses on
your web page, protecting them from robot access, and employing
server-side SPAM filtering can all help to reduce the amount of spam
that you receive.
Of course, this glossary is just the beginning. If you have any other questions about how the Internet works, don't hesitate to contact us and we'll do our best to answer them.