Web Programming - Lecture 1
What is a Web Site?
A website is a collection of related web pages, images, videos, or other digital assets accessible via a URL (domain name or IP).
It's hosted on at least one web server, accessible through the Internet or a local network.
Categories of Websites
- Personal Websites
- Commercial Websites
- Organizational Websites (government or non-profit)
- Entertainment Websites
Static Pages
- Content served directly from the server's file system
- Often built using Server Side Includes (SSI) or CGI
- Layout managed with frames and tables
Web 2.0
Also called Library 2.0, this era of the web focuses on user-centered content and collaboration using interactive and dynamic tools.
Core Technologies
- AJAX
- JavaScript frameworks
Popular Tools
- Podcasting
- Blogging
- Tagging
- Curating with RSS
- Social bookmarking
- Social networking
- Social media
- Web content voting
Key Features of Web 2.0
- Collaborative information sorting – users collectively classify and retrieve data.
- Dynamic content – responds to user input.
- Two-way interaction – comments, reviews, and feedback loops.
- APIs – allow software-based interaction with services.
- Broad accessibility – caters to a wider variety of users.
Web 3.0 (Semantic Web)
Also known as the Semantic Web, Web 3.0 enables machines to understand context and meaning rather than just matching keywords.
Concepts
- Smarter, AI-driven data processing
- Personalized and contextualized search results
- Use of ontologies (via OWL) to help machines reason and infer new information
Core Technologies
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- 3D Graphics
Main Features
- Semantic understanding
- Personalized search
- Machine reasoning
- Data linking and interoperability
- Natural, human-like query processing
Types of Websites
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Static Website | Displays the same pre-defined content for all users. Content is stored in HTML files (.htm/.html) and updated manually. |
| Dynamic Website | Content updates automatically from a database or external source each time the page loads (e.g., real-time seat availability). |
Protocols
- HTTP – HyperText Transfer Protocol
- HTTPS – Secure HTTP
- FTTP – File Transfer Protocol
- SSL – Secure Sockets Layer
Web Server
A Web Server is a computer that hosts and serves web content.
Components
- Hardware and OS
- Web server software (e.g., Apache, Nginx)
- TCP/IP protocols
- Web content (HTML, images, etc.)
Types
- Intranet Server: Serves internal users within an organization.
- Internet Server: Serves external/public users.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
The core language for creating web pages that include text, graphics, audio, and video.
HTML Tags
- Tags are keywords enclosed in angle brackets.
Example:<i>italic</i> - Many tags have both opening and closing forms.
- Example:
<b>Warning</b>-> displays Warning in bold.
Nested Tags
When tags are nested, close the inner tag first:
html
<h1><i>The Nation</i></h1>Structure of a Web Page
All web pages follow a common structure:
html
<html>
<head>
<title>Example</title>
</head>
<body>
This is where you include text and images.
</body>
</html>The <title> Tag
- The title affects SEO ranking in some search engines.
- It appears in favorites, bookmarks, and browser history.