ActiveX
A marketing name for a set of technologies and services, all based on the Component Object Model (COM).

Agent
A piece of software which is designed to perform an action such as file extraction on a remote computer.

Alias
A substitute name to describe a username, file name or directory path.

API
Application programming interface, of which CGI is one of many. API is an interface that provides a set of functions allowing one program to work with another.

AppleScript
An object-oriented language for the Macintosh.

Applet
Small Java program that runs on your browser; usually for animations.

ASP
Microsoft® Active Server Pages (ASP) is a server-side scripting environment that you can use to create and run dynamic, interactive, high-performance Web server applications. When your scripts run on the server rather than on the client, your Web server does all the work involved in generating the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) pages that you send to browsers. You need not worry whether a browser can process your pages; your Web server does all the processing for it.

Back end
A program that works in the background in conjunction with another program, server or service that runs on a machine located elsewhere on a network.

Back Channelling
A link/path that is used for outgoing IP traffic only. IP traffic coming back will not come back via this same link.

Bandwidth
The data carrying capacity of a communications channel.

Baud
Baud rate is a measure of speed of an analogue signal.

BPS
Bits Per Second is the measure of the speed of modems. A 28.8K modem can transmit/receive up to 28,800 bits per second.

Browser
A program that interprets HTML documents and displays them to the user. Used to browse the Web.

Buffer
Area of memory used ot temporarily store data.

Cache
Is an area of memory used for temporary storage of data.

CERN
The European Particle Physics laboratory located near Geneva. CERN is the birthplace of the World Wide Web and the name of the original Web server.

CGI
The Common Gateway Interface that is used to execute programs used in conjunction with a Web server

Checkbox
An HTML widget. When selected, the value of that widget is to be sent to the CGI application for processing.

Client
Half of the client/server process, the client acts as a front-end application that requests data or information from a server (see also server), receives the information from the server, and processes that information. A client often manages how information is displayed, validates incoming information, interacts with the user, and so on.

Content-Type
The MIME type used to transfer information.

Counter
A program that counts the amount of "hits" (see also hit) that a page has received

Crawler
Also referred to as a Web spider or robot, a crawler is a program that catalogs information on the Web

Daemon
A program that sits in the background, listening to a port and waiting for a connection (see also server).

Database
A system in which information is stored in a method that can be used for easy retrieval.

Domain Name
A name used to identify a network. The domains, .com, .edu, net, org, .gov, and mil are common top level domain names found anywhere in the world.

Domain Name System (DNS)
A system by which internet addresses are organised. Every domain name must be unique. When you type a domain name into your browser it must then be matched to its IP address.

Download
Data transferred from a server or a networked computer to a workstation (or PC)is called a download

DHCP
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. An industry-standard protocol that assigns Internet Protocol (IP) configurations to computers.

E-mail
Electronic mail, also referred to as e-mail or E-mail. It's used to send a message to another individual electronically.

FAQ
Short for Frequently Answered Questions. These are short answers to some questions posted on the Internet.

Firewall
companies providing public access to their LAN use a firewall to secure their system by dividing it into public and private areas.

FTP
File Transfer Protocol. Used to transfer files from one computer to another over a TCP/IP network.

Gateway
An application that works as a "middle man" between two other programs.

Gopher
A client/server distributed document retrieval system which started as a Campus Wide Information System at the University of Minnesota.

GUI
Graphical User Interface. A graphical interface in which objects are manipulated or programs are run by selecting an item with an on-screen pointer and then clicking the mouse.

Hacker
Users who would break in to "secure" computers for destructive purposes.

Handshaking
A series of signals sent between computers to establish communication.

Hit
A slang word indicating that a Web page has been requested by a Web client.

Home Directory
A directory assigned to a user as his own so that he can store files, user specific configuration files, and so on.

Home Page
The top level page of a subject, organization, or individual. For example, an organization's home page could be something like: http://www.infotek3000.com
but a user on that site could have a home page as well, such as: http://www.infotek3000.com/txs

Host
Server machine that allows public access for the purposes of sharing data.

HTML
HyperText Markup Language. A subset of SGML used for Web documents that describes the logical structure of a document and the attributes of a documents

HTTP
HyperText Transport Protocol. Describes how information is to be passed between the World Wide Web client and server.

Hypertext
A system for linking text to parts of a document or other documents.

IIS
Acronym for Microsoft's Internet Information Server. A Web server.

Image Map
An image that has been divided into sections using coordinates so that specific sections of the image are linked to specific documents. There are client-side image maps and server-side image maps.

Internet
A collection of networks networked together to form a larger network using the TCP/IP protocol suite.

Intranet
Private network of computers within a company which generally uses Internet software and allows access to the Internet but with the use of a firewall excludes access from the outside.

IP
Internet Protocol. The most widely used network protocol, IP is the main network layer for TCP/IP, providing packet delivery services between nodes.

IRC
Internet Relay Chat is a multi-user real-time facility accessible using special chat software and consisting of a large number of channels dealing with different topics.

ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network. ISDN sends digital signals over a standard copper phone line, providing faster connections.

ISP
Internet Service Provider. A company that provides Internet connections to end users or businesses.

Java
An obiect~oriented programming environment from Sun Microsystems.

JavaScript
A scripting language used within HTML documents that was developed by Netscape Communications, Inc., and Sun Microsystems.

Jscript
Microsoft's version of JavaScript. Jscript contains all functions that JavaScript does, plus additional instructions, particularly those which enable access to ActiveX components.

Keyword
A string or word used to point to data within a database. A keyword is also a word that is used to search for information within a database

LAN
Local Area Network. A small network, usually limited to approximately 1 kilometer in radius.

Link
Any area on the browser which when clicked will connect you to another page on the Internet.

Microsoft IIS
Microsoft® Internet Information Server is a Web server that enables you to publish information on a corporate intranet or on the Internet. Internet Information Server transmits information by using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Internet Information Server can also be configured to provide File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and gopher services. The FTP service enables users to transfer files to and from your Web site. The gopher service uses a menu-driven protocol for locating documents. The gopher protocol has been largely superseded by the HTTP protocol.

MIME
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. MIME is an extension of the mall message format that provides the ability to send audio, images, and so on via electronic mail. MIME is also used extensively within HTTP (see HTTP).

Mozilla
Netscape Communication's Web browser, commonly known as the Netscape browser.

MSIE
Microsoft Internet Explorer. Microsoft's Web browser.

NCSA
National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Located at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. They created the most popular Web server along with the first widely used graphical Web browser, which is called Mosaic.

NNTP
Network News Transfer Protocol- the protocol used for sending and receiving of Newsgroups.

ODBC
Open DataBase Connectivity. A standard for accessing different database systems. Designed by the SQL Access Group of which Microsoft was a member.

Off-line
Means that your computer is not currently connected to the Internet.

On-line
Means that your computer is currently connected to the Internet.

Packet
A unit of data sent across a network.

Perl
Practical Extraction and Report Language. Designed by Larry Wall, Perl was originally intended to extract information from files and create reports. It has grown to be a full-pledge interpreted language popular with CGI.

POP
A Point Of Presence is any dial-in location of your ISP.

PPP
Point to Point Presence is the software protocol which allows a computer to make a connection to a modem and on the Internet.

Protocol
A set of rules that describes how to transmit data.

Radio Button
A widget used in forms that usually allows the user to select only one option in a group of radio buttons at a time (unlike check boxes).

Real Time
Information that is accurate at the point in which it is retrieved.

Response
Information from the server sent to a client containing data requested by the client.

RFC
Request For Comments. A series of numbered Internet informational documents and standards which are widely followed by commercial and freeware software developers in the Internet and UNIX communities. Few RFCs are standards but all Internet standards are recorded in RFCs.

Robot
Usually refers to a mechanical device used to simplily burdensome tasks. On the WWW, a robot (or bot) is used to browse the WWW, retrieve findings, and catalog the information.

Router
A router is a computer with the task of intercepting data packets and sending them along to the correct address.

Script
A text file that is executed by an interpreter or shell that performs a function. With CGI, all programs, whether written in Perl or C, are often referred to as scripts.

Search Engine
A device that enables you to search either a database of the Internet for a specific topic or file.

Server
Half of the client/server process. Acts as a back-end application that provides specific services, receives requests from client (see client), performs the service, and returns the information or data requested to the client. On a UNIX system, you can usually find the system's servers by looking at the file, /etc/services. The NCSA server, Apache, Microsoft's Internet Information Server, and the Netscape Commerce server are examples of HTTP servers.

SGML
Standard Generalized Markup Language. A metalanguage used to describe other markup languages, including HTML.

Shareware
Software which is available for free trial and is normally downloaded from the Internet or retrieved from a CD-ROM.

Site
Usually meaning a single node, or computer, on a network.

SLIP
Serial Line Internet Protocol – A standard for connecting a computer to a modem for Internet connection. SLIP has largely replaced by PPP.

SMTP
Simple Mall Transfer Protocol A method used to send electronic mall from one how to another over a TCP/IP network Unlike most internet protocols, SMTP is a server-to-server protocol.

Spider
See robot.

Stateless
A method in which the server treats each request as a separate transaction. A WWW server is a stateless server.

Tar
Short for Tape Archive, tar is program that archives files (although it does no compression of the archive), allowing you to store many files within one file.

TCL
Tool Command Language (pronounced "tickle"), developed by John Ousterhout at the University of California at Berkeley, is a string processing language for issuing commands to interactive programs.

TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol – is the standard communications protocol to connect computers across the Internet.

Telnet
An Internet protocol used to remotely log on to a computer.

Transfer Rate
Rate at which data is transferred from one device to another.

UNIX
A multiuser, multitasking operating system originally developed in 1969. UNIX has been one of the most popular multiuser operating systems.

URI
Uniform Resource Indicator. A string that points to a specific document or file (called a resource).

URL
Uniform Resource locator. A string that specifies an object on the Internet The URL consists of the protocol used, the hostname in which the resource is Located, and the path to the resource. An example is http://www.infotek3000.com/index.htm

URL-encoded
The method in which information is sent to the server (and on to the CGI script). The special characters within a string are escaped using the percent sign (%).

Usenet
A distributed bulletin board system used to send messages (called news articles) to a large group of individuals.

VBScript
A subset of Microsoft's Visual Basic used for creating simple applications. VBScript is an interpreted language.

Visual Basic
A basic programming language designed to make programming graphical objects easier (see also VB3, VB~16, VB4~2).

VRML
Acronym for Virtual Reality Modeling language. A draft specification for the design and implementation of a platform-independent language used to create simulations of a real.

W3
Short for WWW or the World Wide Web.

WAN
Wide Area Network – is a network of modem linked computers covering a large or even global area.

WAIS
Wide Area Information Service. A service allowing access to site indexes. WAIS allows you to access indexes either locally or on a remote network.

Web
Short for the World Wide Web.

Web Site
A site that contains a server that processes HTML documents using HTTP.

Webmaster
A person or group that controls or develops the contents of that site's Web pages.

Widget
Geek-speak for an item that can be clicked or have information entered into it Radio buttons and check boxes are examples of widgets.

WWW
The World Wide Web. Based on a set of protocols ~TML and HTI?) that allow a visitor to click a "link" that will carry the visitor to another document The document can be local or remote.

.gif
Popular graphic file format developed for use on the Internet. Uses lossless compression but has a maximum of 256 colours.

.jpg
Stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group and is a popular method of image file compression for Internet graphics.

.pdf
Popular way of publishing documents on the Internet. It can be viewed and printed using Acrobat Reader, but can’t be edited.

.tar
A file, or files compressed (archive) using tar (see also tar).

.zip
A compressed file, using the zip compression method commonly associated with PKWare’s PKZIP.

See Also: > Resources