Glossary of Internet Terms

Access (Microsoft Access)

A database system developed by Microsoft. Part of Microsoft Office Professional. Mostly used on low traffic web sites running on the Windows platform.

ActiveX

A programming interface (API) that allows web browsers to download and execute Windows programs.

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)

A special type of DSL line where the upload speed is different from the download speed.

Anti-Virus Program

A computer program made to discover and destroy all types of computer viruses.

ASP (Active Server Pages)

A Microsoft technology allowing the insertion of server executable scripts in web pages.

Bandwidth

A measure for the speed (amount of data) you can send through an Internet connection. The more bandwidth, the faster the connection.

Browse

Term to describe a user's movement across the web, moving from page to page via hyperlinks, using a web browser.

CGI (Common Gateway Interface)

A set of rules that describes how a CGI program communicates with a web server.

Computer Virus

A computer program that can harm a computer by displaying messages, deleting files, or even destroying the computer's operating system.

Cookie

Information from a web server, stored on your computer by your web browser. The purpose of a cookie is to provide information about your visit to the website for use by the server during a later visit.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)

A W3C recommended language for defining style (such as font, size, color, spacing, etc.) for web documents.

Database

Data stored in a computer in such a way that a computer program can easily retrieve and manipulate the data

DHTML (Dynamic HTML)

A term commonly to describe HTML content that can change dynamically.

Domain Name

The name that identifies a web site

Download

To transfer a file from a remote computer to a local computer. In web terms: to transfer a file from a web server to a web client.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)

An Internet connection over regular telephone lines, but much faster. Speed may vary from 128 kilobit per second, up to 9 megabit per second.

E-mail (Electronic Mail)

Messages sent from one person to another via the Internet.

E-mail Address

The address used for sending e-mails to a person or an organization. Typical format is username@yourdomainname.

E-mail Server

A web server dedicated to the task of serving e-mail.

Firewall

Software that acts as a security filter that can restrict types of network communication. Most often used between an individual computer (or a LAN) and the Internet.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

One of the most common methods for sending files between two computers.

FTP Server

A web server you can logon to, and download files from (or upload files to). Anonymous FTP is a method for downloading files from an FTP server without using a logon account.

Gigabyte

1024 megabytes. Commonly rounded down to one billion bytes.

Hits

The number of times a web object (page or picture) has been viewed or downloaded.

Home Page

The top-level (main) page of a web site. The default page displayed when you visit a web site.

Host

A web server that "hosts" web services like providing web site space to companies or individuals.

Hosting

The action of providing web host services.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

HTML is the language of the web. HTML is a set of tags that are used to define the content, layout and the formatting of the web document. Web browsers use the HTML tags to define how to display the text.

HTML Editor

A software program for editing HTML pages. With an HTML editor you can add elements like lists, tables, layout, font size, and colors to a HTML document like using a word processor. An HTML editor will display the page being edited exactly the same way it will be displayed on the web.

Hyperlink

A pointer to another document. Most often a pointer to another web page. A hyperlink is a synonym for a hotlink or a link, and sometimes called a hypertext connection to another document or web page.

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)

A standard communication protocol for retrieving e-mails from an e-mail server. IMAP is much like POP but more advanced.

Internet

A world wide network connecting millions of computers.

Internet Browser

A software program used to display web pages.

Internet Explorer

A browser by Microsoft. The most commonly used browser today.

Java

A programming language developed by SUN. Mostly for programming web servers and web applets.

JavaScript

The most popular scripting language on the internet, developed by Netscape.

Keyword

A word used by a search engine to search for relevant web information.

Kilobyte

1024 bytes. Often called 1K, and rounded down to 1000 bytes.

Linux

Open source computer operating system based on Unix. Mostly used on servers and web servers.

Megabyte

1024 kilobytes. Commonly rounded down to one million bytes.

Meta Tags

Tags inserted into documents to describe the document.

MySQL

Free open source database software often used on the web.

Newsgroup

An on-line discussion group (a section on a news server) dedicated to a particular subject of interest.

OS (Operating System)

The software that manages the basic operating of a computer.

PDF (Portable Document Format)

A document file format developed by Adobe. Most often used for text documents.

PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor)

A technology allowing the insertion of server executable scripts in web pages. Mostly for Unix, Linux and Solaris platforms.

POP (Post Office Protocol)

A standard communication protocol for retrieving e-mails from an e-mail server.

Search Engine

Computer program used to search and catalog (index) the millions of pages of available information on the web. Common search engines are Google and AltaVista.

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

A standard communication protocol for sending e-mail messages between computers.

SQL (Structured Query Language)

An ANSI standard computer language for accessing and manipulating databases.

Trojan Horse

Computer program hidden in another computer program with the purpose of destroying software or collecting information about the use of the computer.

Upload

To transfer a file from a local computer to a remote computer. In web terms: to transfer a file from a web client to a web server.

W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)

The organization responsible for managing standards for the WWW.

Web Site

A collection of related web pages belonging to a company or an individual.

Web Spider

A computer program that searches the Internet for web pages. Common web spiders are the one used by search engines like Google and AltaVista to index the web. Web spiders are also called web robots or wanderers.

Windows

Computer operating systems from Microsoft including Windows 2008, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7

WWW (World Wide Web)

A global network of computers using the internet to exchange web documents.

WYSIWYG

(What You See Is What You Get) To display a web page being edited exactly the same way it will be displayed on the web.

ZIP

A compressing format for computer files. Commonly used for compressing files before downloading over the Internet. ZIP files can be compressed (ZIPPED) and decompressed (UNZIPPED) using a computer program like WINZIP.