Basic Web Concepts
Introduction
Server hosted by: Luka Utevski - lukapravivlogovi@gmail.com
© 2024/2025 Qinshift Academy
About the person who hosted the Server
-
Web developer at @Qinshift Academy
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Web developer (html css js)
at
- Hosted using Apache web server
Session overview
- This session is divided into two parts
Part 1
- History of Internet and WWW (World Wide Web)
- How the web works
- Web Pages, Websites and Web Apps
- Browsers and Browser types
Part 2
- Web Development Process
- Hosting
- SEO
- Maintenance
- Backup
History of the Internet
- Soviet Union – successfully launch of the first satellite in Earth’s orbit –Satellite name: “Sputnik 1”
- Soviet Union vs. US – Competing in the Intelligence and Technology sphere, as the biggest rivals worldwide that time
- The event of “Sputnik 1” made US to create the US Department of Defense ARPA (the Advanced Research Projects Agency)
DARPA
- Researches develops advanced ideas and technology beyond the currently identified needs
- Their most famous and most widely used project:
Student Research #1
Action: Find out more about “Man-Computer Symbiosis”
ARPANET
- ARPANET stands for Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
- The name of the first computer network
- Presented in year 1967
- First four-computer network was up and running in 1969
Internet
- Global network of computing recources
- Collection of nodes (computers, routers, networks, ets.) interconnected and intercommunicating between each other
- Common deffinitions:
- A network of networks based on the TCP/IP communications protocol
- A community of people who use and develop those networks
Student Research #2
Action: Find out how TCP/IP was invented?
Internet services
- There are many known Internet Services Today
- Most basic which exists from it's beginnings:
WWW (2)
- Replaced by CERN’s project lead by Tim Berners-Lee
- CERN –European Council for Nuclear Research
- Tim Berners-Lee has been working on Information Management System in which documents with texts can contain links
WWW or WEB
- WWW satands for World Wide Web
- Tim Berners-Lee, the "father" of World Wide Web defined it as follows:
“The World Wide Web is the universe of network-accasible information, an embodiment of human knowledge”
WWW Technical Definition
- All the users and resources on the Internet that are using the HTTP (Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol)
HTTP
Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol
How HTTP works?
- When clicking a link (hypertext link), you are transferring an URL to your browser. From this URL, your browser knows which server to contact and what file to ask for.
- The communication between your computer and the server is done by using HTTP protocol
HTTP Communication Lifecycle
During an http transaction, the requester, known as the client, asks for a file to a server.
Normal schema:
- Client connects to host
- Sever accepts connection
- Client requests response
- Server sends a response (including file or not)
URL
Uniform Resource Locator
URL
- URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator, and is used to specify addresses on the World Wide Web
- A URL is the fundamental network identification for any resource connected to the web (e.g., hypertext pages, images, and sound files)
- URL format:
Web Servers
- Every Web site sits on a computer known as a Web server
- This server is always connected to the internet
- Every Web server that is connected to the Internet is given a unique address made up of a series of four numbers between 0 and 256 separated by periods, for example, 68.198.17.112 or 78.221.45.27 called IP Address
Web Servers (2)
- When you register a Web address, also known as a domain name, such as mywebsite.com you have to specify the IP address of the Web server that will host the site
ISP
Internet Service Provider
ISP
This stands for Internet Service Provider. They are the companies who provide you service in terms of internet connection to connect to the internet.
DNS
DNS stands for Domain Name System.
When someone types your website address, e.g. www.facebook.com, your browser will ask the Domain Name System to find your IP address that hosts your site.
Domains and Subdomains
Domain is the main part of your website name that comes after www. For website www.mywebsite.com –domain is mywebsite.com
Subdomain is the further division of your domain
Subdomains can be:
- forum.mywebsite.com
- chat.mywebsite.com
- blog.mywebsite.com
Domain Extensions
There are many different domain extensions today
Most known ones:
- .com - Stands for commercial or company, but most widely used today for any type of website
- .net - Stands for network - usually used for network sites
- .org - Stands for organization and is supposed to be used for non-profit bodies
- .us or .mk - Country based domain extensions
- .biz - Stands for business
- .gov - Stands for government
- .tv - Stands for Television
Web Pages, Websites and Web Apps
Web Pages
- Single Document written using HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
- Hypertext is a text that contains hyperlinks that lead to other documents
- Hyperlink is a text, word, sentence, button, icon, when you click on it, you will be directed to another web page
- We access a web page by entering its URL (Uniform Resource Locator) address using a web browser
Websites
- A group of interlinked and well-structured web pages that exist on the same domain
- There are two types of websites: static and dynamic
Static Websites
- Static Websites: websites that contains only Static web pages
- Static Web Page: A document that every time it is requested displays on the browser exactly as it is stored in the server
- It doesn't change at all, unless the creator (owner) changes it manually
Dynamic Websites
- Dynamic Websites: websites that contains Dynamic web pages
- Dynamic Web Page: Web pages that are generated using scripting languages and programs interacting with a database on the server side
- Programs that add, restrict, edit or remove data without the creator's intervention
Web Apps
- Web Apps: A software application/program that exists on the server and runs using a web browser, through a web page
- Created using a combination of programming languages and web application frameworks
- *it may use the RAM, allows for user interaction and it's designed for many uses
- *the Web Pages are generated using scripts and programs
Dynamic websites vs. Web Apps
Dynamic Websites
- Allows the user to interact and add content
- The creator's content is the dominant
- They are less complicated and need less skills than web apps do
Dynamic websites vs. Web Apps
Web Apps
- Web Apps are based on user engagement
- Almost all their content is from the end user
- Web Apps are similar to desktop apps
- They are more complicated and need more skills than websites do
Web Browsers
Web browsers are nothing but software applications installed on your computer that helps you browse Websites
- Note: You can build your own Web Browser if you know how to code
Popular Web Browsers:
Web Browsers (2)
Less Popular Web Browsers:
- Konqueror
- SeaMonkey
- MaxhtonBrowser
- KidZui
- RockMelt
- Iron Browser
- Sleipnir
W3C
World Wide Web Consortium
W3C
This stands for World Wide Web Consortium which is an international consortium of companies involved with the Internet and the Web.
The W3C was founded in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee, the original architect of the World Wide Web
The organization's purpose is to develop open standards so that the Web evolves in a single direction rather than being splintered among competing factions
The W3C is the chief standards body for HTTP and HTML
http://www.w3.org/
Advantages of Web Applications
- 24/7 Availability
- Accessibility across devices
- Integration with other systems
- Advertising opportunities
- Global reach
- Easier maintenance – thus cost saving
- Showcase your work worldwide
- Easy and quick access
Disadvantages of Web Applications
- Internet reliance
- Security
- Performance limitations
- Browser Support
Skills required to work in web industry
- HTML Knowledge
- CSS Knowledge
- Scripting (JavaScript/PHP//Ajax technology...)
- Remote Access tools (RDP, FileZilla–FTP)
- File Uploading & Downloading (FTP, Data Transfer)
For advanced web applications:
- ASP.NET, C#, Python, Java, SQL, Software Engineering skills...
How do you start?
We learned a lot about basic concepts of the Web
- Now you are ready to go deeper into building web pages, websites and later web apps
Web development proccess
There are numerous steps in the web site design and development process
- Information Gathering
- Planning
- Design
- Development
- Testing and Delivery
- SEO
- Maintenance
Information Gathering
- Purpose
- Target Audience
- Content & business requirements
Planning
Using the information gathered from phase one, it is time to put together a plan for your website
This is the point where a site map is developed.
The site map is a list of all main topic areas of the site, as well as sub-topics, if applicable. This serves as a guide as to what content will be on the site.
Student Research #4
Action: Find out the difference between the hosting types. What hosting type is mostly used today and why?
SEO
Search Engine Optimization
SEO
- Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines
- SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as "natural" or "organic" results) rather than direct traffic or paid traffic.
SEO (2)
- As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, the computer-programmed algorithms that dictate search engine behavior, what people search for,
the actual search terms or keywords typed into search engines, and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience.
Student Research #5
Action: Find out the most used SEO techniques today.
Website backups
Backup of a website can be done by copying website data to another location
It is general practice to have the data on three different places, so that you will be 99,99% sure your data is safe
Backups can be done on a periods of time depending of the website frequency of information updates
Backups should be preserved in a different server locations, different servers, tapes or other external media devices or machines
Now we are ready to get into code