Glossary

This is where we let you in on a secret. In the IT industry people spend many hours developing new software. They spend even more hours trying to come up with funky names for what they've produced. It can't just be called Web Page Developer, it has to have something memorable attached to it like Expression, or Dreamweaver.

Once you get into the realms of the really geeky stuff then things go from the sublime to the ridiculous. A long complicated name usually applies to the technology so it gets shortened into an Acronym or an Abbreviation. Many more hours are spent tweaking the long complicated name into something even more long and complicated so it looks good when it's shortened. On occasion, just to complicate things even further, there are duplicates, two different things with the same acronym. Confused? If not, you will be.

So now we've ratted on our fellow developers, here's a glossary to hopefully answer some of your questions. If we've missed anything, give us a shout and we'll add it.

Bandwidth:
Bandwidth is the capacity that a telecommunications medium has for carrying data. The higher the bandwidth the faster your data or web sites download. Sadly this isn't true of uploads which tend to be restricted.
Back to top
Domain:
A domain name is the text name corresponding to the numeric IP address of a computer on the Internet. Every domain is unique. Internet users access your web site using your domain name
Back to top
Domain Renewal:
Domains are suspended 30 days after the domain expires. The suspension period lasts for 60 days and during this period you cannot make any changes to the domain configuration. If the domain is not renewed within the suspension period it will be deleted from the registry. Once deleted the domain will be available for registration again.
Back to top
Dynamic HTML (DHTML):
An extension of the HTML language that enables the inclusion in Web pages of animations and dynamic menus, among other things. DHTML allows the visitor to view sites without installing additional software, called plug-ins, in their web browser.
Back to top
Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce):
Conducting business on-line, E-Commerce may include buying and selling products with digital cash or via an electronic data interchange.
Back to top
Extranet:
Many companies have an internal network that acts in a similar way to the Internet and allows them to share information around their various locations, this is known as an Intranet. An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's Intranet that is made accessible to other companies.
Back to top
Firefox:
is an open source (free) web browser. Like Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer it enables you to view Web pages. Internet Explorer runs only under Windows and on Apple Macs whereas Firefox runs on these platforms as well as UNIX. Otherwise, the two browsers are very similar. Both support Java and JavaScript although at the time of writing, IE was subject to many security issues.
Back to top
Firewall:
A firewall can be software or hardware. Its purpose is to prevent outsiders from accessing your private data.
Back to top
Hosting:
A company that provides web hosting services is called a web host, and their detailed offers of storage, connectivity, and services are called web hosting plans. There are literally thousands of web hosting services, ranging from individuals to worldwide corporations, and many hosts offer multiple web hosting plans. Without hosting your web site is not accessible to outsiders.
Back to top
HyperText Markup Language (HTML):
The authoring language used to create web pages on the World Wide Web which are then displayed in a web browser such as Internet Explorer and Firefox.
HTML can be written in simple plain text editors such as Notepad or sophisticated authoring programs such as Macromedia Dreamweaver. HTML uses tags such as <H1> and </H1> to structure text into headings, paragraphs, lists, hypertext links etc.
Back to top
Internet Explorer (IE):
Internet Explorer is Microsoft's Web browser and comes with Windows. It's not the most secure of browsers, nor is it the most compliant with web standards. Old versions ran on Apple computers but support for that has now stopped. It will not run on UNIX machines.
Back to top
Intranet:
An intranet is a network that is contained within an business. 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.
Back to top
Internet Protocol (IP) address:
An IP address is an identifier of a computer or device on a TCP/IP network. The format of an IP address is a 32 bit string written as four numbers separated by full stops. Each number can be from zero to 255. For example, 62.110.80.190 could be an IP address. Connecting a private network to the Internet requires using registered IP addresses (called Internet addresses) to avoid duplicates.
Back to top
Local Area Network (LAN):
A LAN is a network of interconnected workstations sharing the resources of a single computer (server) within a relatively small geographic area. Typically, this might be within 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.
Back to top
Linus Torvald's Unix (Linux):
A version of UNIX that runs on a variety of hardware platforms including x86 PCs, Alpha, PowerPC and IBM's product line. Linux is open source software, which is freely available; however, the full distribution of Linux along with technical support and training are available for a fee from vendors such as Red Hat Software and Caldera. Due to its stability, Linux has gained popularity with ISPs as the Operating System for hosting Web servers.
Back to top
Name Servers (NS):
are the machines that perform the DNS function by providing the mapping of domain names to IP addresses.
Back to top
Netscape Communicator:
Netscape Communicator is a suite of software components for sharing, accessing, and communicating information via intranets and the Internet.
Back to top
Hypertext Pre-Processor (PHP):
Hypertext Pre-processor is a programming language that allows web developers to create dynamic contents that interact with databases. PHP enabled web pages are treated just like regular HTML pages.
Back to top
Router:
On the Internet, a router is a device 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 it is connected to. Without these, the Internet wouldn't work. If one of them goes wrong, you may find you can't access certain sites whilst others will be fine.
Back to top
Server:
A server is a computer on a LAN that provides services or resources to stand alone computers by sharing its resources. A dedicated server shares its resources but doesn't use them itself except in performing administrative tasks. Servers may also be used to run programs for users, in which case it's called an application server.
Back to top
Transport Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP):
TCP/IP is the suite of communications protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet and is 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.
Back to top
Uniplexed Information and Computing System (UNIX):
A multi-user, multitasking operating system that is widely used as the master control program in workstations and especially servers and was not developed by Microsoft. A myriad of commercial applications run on UNIX servers, and most web sites run under UNIX. There are many versions of UNIX and, except for the PC world, where Windows dominates, almost every hardware vendor offers it either as its primary or secondary operating system. Back to top
Wide Area Network (WAN):
WAN distinguishes the broader telecommunication structure from a 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.
Back to top
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.
Back to top
Web Standards:
Standardised specifications for Internet mark-up languages such as HTML, CSS, and XML. Formulated by the W3C organisation, these standards enable people to create Web sites that will work in almost any browser or Internet enabled device.
Back to top
Windows:
A family of operating systems for personal computers, Windows dominates the personal computer world, running, by some estimates, on 90% of all personal computers. Like the Macintosh operating environment, Windows provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI), virtual memory management, multitasking, and support for many peripheral devices. Or at least it did until Vista came along and nobody had developed device drivers for it. Back to top
eXtensible Hypertext Mark-up Language (XHTML):
a family of current and future document types and modules that extend HTML using XML.
Back to top