The internet is a global network of interconnected computers that communicate through standardized protocols. It enables the exchange of data, information, and services through various technologies, such as email, websites, social media, and online applications. The World Wide Web(WWW) on other hand, commonly known as the web, is a system of interlinked hypertext documents and multimedia content that can be accessed via the internet. Created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, the web allows users to navigate through web pages using hyperlinks.
History of the Internet
Before 1957, computers primarily operated on a single task at a time. Early computers, such as the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) and UNIVAC (UNIVersal Automatic Computer), were designed to process one job or task sequentially. This mode of operation is known as “serial processing. These early machines did not have the capability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously due to limited processing power and lack of advanced operating systems. Users would submit a job, which the computer would process to completion before starting the next job. This single-task approach was sufficient for the simpler computational needs and hardware limitations of the time. The shift toward handling multiple tasks began with the development of batch processing and later, time-sharing systems, which emerged in the late 1950s and 1960s.
The Cold War space race significantly contributed to the development of the internet through a combination of technological innovation. I remember taking a course on this particular topic in my history class in the uni. It was a proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union. On October 4th 1957, the first satellite called “Sputnik one” was launched by the Soviet Union. The fear of missile launch from space awakened the technological consciousness of the United States, in which she founded the Advanced Research Project Agency(ARPA). One of ARPA’s projects was to develop robust, reliable communication systems that could withstand potential disruptions, such as a nuclear attack. This led to research into decentralized communication networks, which formed the basis of the ARPANET,
the precursor to the internet. Packet Switching was also key to the development of the ARPANET, allowed data to be broken into small packets, sent independently across the network, and reassembled at the destination.
The Cyclades also played a crucial role in the development of the internet. It was a pioneering computer network developed in France in the early 1970s, primarily led by computer scientist Louis Pouzin. Cyclades introduced and refined several key concepts, particularly in the realm of packet-switched networks.
February 28, 1990, marked a significant milestone in the development of the internet, specifically relating to the transition from the ARPANET to the modern internet. The transition from ARPANET to the broader internet was facilitated by the adoption of the Transfer Control Protocol(TCP)/Internet Protocol(IP) protocol suite, which became the standard for network communication. TCP/IP’s robustness, scalability, and ability to interconnect diverse networks were crucial in enabling the creation of a global network of networks.
The World Wide Web (WWW)
Thirty-five years ago the very first website went online, behind this invention is a computer scientist, Tim Berners-Lee, born in London on June 8th 1955. He came about it while working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Berners-Lee envisioned a system that would enable researchers to share information seamlessly across different computer systems.
To realize this vision, he developed three fundamental technologies: HTML (HyperText Markup Language), which allowed for the creation of web pages; URI (Uniform Resource Identifier), which later became URL (Uniform Resource Locator), providing a way to address and access web resources; and HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), enabling the retrieval of linked resources across the web.
The first successful communication between a web browser and a server occurred in mid-November 1989, marking the birth of the web. By 1990, the first web page was created, hosted on Berners-Lee’s NeXT computer at CERN.
In 1993, the introduction of the Mosaic web browser, developed by Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), significantly boosted the web’s popularity. Mosaic was user-friendly, supported images, and was available on multiple platforms, making it accessible to a broader audience. The web’s rapid expansion led to the development of dynamic and interactive content, search engines, e-commerce platforms, and social media, transforming how information was accessed and shared globally. The web’s rapid expansion led to the development of dynamic and interactive content, search engines, e-commerce platforms, and social media, transforming how information was accessed and shared globally.
The web’s evolution continued with the advent of Web 2.0 in the early 2000s, emphasizing user-generated content, interactivity, and collaboration. Technologies such as AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) enabled more dynamic web applications, leading to the proliferation of platforms like Wikipedia, YouTube, and Facebook.
Today, the World Wide Web is an integral part of daily life, supporting a vast array of applications and services that connect people, businesses, and information worldwide. Its development has been marked by continuous innovation and adaptation, driven by the collaborative efforts of researchers, developers, and users across the globe.
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