Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

ASP
Active Server Pages. A means of delivering dynamically-written web pages to web browsers on demand, according to a wide range of possible variables, such as user interaction from forms, the contents of a database, the type of browser used, etc. A Microsoft product, ASP works closely with VBScript, which does not work currently on Netscape. The equivalent Netscape products are JavaScript and LiveConnect.

Authoring Package
A type of layout or desktop-publishing package that permits the design of web pages without requiring knowledge of HTML. Examples include Microsoft FrontPage, HotMetal, HotDog, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Adobe GoLive, etc.

Backbone
A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. The term is relative as a backbone in a small network will likely be much smaller than many non-backbone lines in a large network.

Bandwidth
How much data you can send through a connection. Usually measured in bits-per-second. A full page of English text is about 16,000 bits. A fast modem can move about 15,000 bits in one second. Full-motion full-screen video would require roughly 10,000,000 bits-per-second, depending on compression.

Baud Rate
In common usage the baud rate of a modem is how many bits it can send or receive per second. Technically, baud is the number of times per second that the carrier signal shifts value - for example a 1200 bit-per-second modem actually runs at 300 baud, but it moves 4 bits per baud (4 x 300 = 1200 bits per second). Modems are usually classed as running at 33.6K or 56K – this relates to the speed of data transfer in bits-per-second.

Bit
(Binary DigIT) -- A single digit number in base-2, in other words, either a 1 or a zero. The smallest unit of computerized data. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second.

Bps
(Bits-Per-Second) -- A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to another. A 28.8 modem can move 28,800 bits per second

Browser
A Client program (software) that is used to look at various kinds of Internet resources.

The best known browsers (often called ‘web browsers’) are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape. Both companies are currently shipping version 4 of their browsers and working on version 5. The choice of browser is largely personal, although many people stay with the browser supplied by their ISP (Internet Service Provider), unaware that they have a choice. Each browser varies slightly in the abilities it has, the way it displays web pages, and the range of additional programs (plugins) it can run. Both major browsers are free of charge and can be downloaded from the manufacturer’s web site, or obtained by using the CD’s on the front of Internet and PC magazine covers.

The Version-4 browsers require large amounts of RAM and disk space to run well.

CGI
(Common Gateway Interface) -- A set of rules that describe how a Web Server communicates with another piece of software on the same machine, and how the other piece of software (the "CGI program") talks to the web server. Usually a CGI program is a small program that takes data from a web server and does something with it, like putting the content of a form into an e-mail message, or turning the data into a database query. You can often see that a CGI program is being used by seeing "cgi-bin" in a URL, but not always. CGI programs are usually written in Perl, Java, Visual Basic, or Visual C++.

Client
A software program that is used to contact and obtain data from a Server software program on another computer, often across a great distance. Each Client program is designed to work with one or more specific kinds of Server programs, and each Server requires a specific kind of Client. A Web Browser is a specific kind of Client that works with Web Servers.

Client/Server
A computer network that uses servers to supply files on request and client machines and software to use them. The Web and the Internet are very large distributed Client/Server networks.

Cookie
The most common meaning of "Cookie" on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser that the Browser software is expected to save and to send back to the Server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the Server. Cookies might contain information such as login or registration information, online "shopping cart" information, user preferences, etc. They are used by programs like JavaScript and Active Server Pages (ASP) to manage dynamic web interactions.

Cookies do not read your hard drive and send your life story to the CIA, but they can be used to gather more information about a user than would be possible without them.