Glossary.

ASP - Stands for: "Active Server Page". First see: Server Side Script. This is a type of server side scripting that usually operates on Windows-based servers.

bandwidth - 1. In the hosting industry, this term is frequently used synonymously with "Transfer" to mean the total amount of data transferred over the period of one month. Typically measured in GB. See the Criteria For Choosing a Host section in the Tutorial for more information. 2. This describes the quantity of data that can pass through an Internet connection over the period of one second. (i.e. 1000 bits-per-second, or 1Kbps).

browser - A browser is a piece of software that is used to view data on the Internet. Examples are Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Opera, and Safari.

C- A commonly used programming language that is sometimes used for Server Side Scripting.

C++ - A commonly used programming language that is sometimes used for Server Side Scripting. It is a modified version of C above.

CGI - Stands for: "Common Gateway Interface." The best way to illustrate this is with an example: A web page is created to add up numbers. The viewer enters in 2 numbers, and the webpage then adds up those numbers, and returns the answer to the viewer. HTML is not designed to process or calculate numbers, but what it can do, is pass those numbers to another program, and then accept an answer from that program for the viewer to see. So you really have 2 programs communicating with each other - one to calculate, and one to display (the HTML). Common Gateway Interface is the standard way for these programs to communicate.

CGI-Bin - This is a "bin" or storage folder on a server that stores programs that perform the calculations and return the values to HTML for display. (See CGI)

client - The "client" computer is the viewer's computer, as opposed to the "Server" which serves the client computer the web pages that it requests. (See the Internet Basics Section of the Tutorial for more information on this)

diskspace - This refers to the amount of space you can use on a host's computer. The size of all the files on your website cannot exceed the total amount that you are allowed. It is usually measured in MB, and sometimes in GB. (1GB=1000MB= 1,000,000 KB= 1,000,000,000 Bytes)

domain - A domain is an area of the Internet. For example, internetsimplicity.net is a domain. Domains get more specific as you proceed from right to left. " .net" ".com" ".org" are considered top level domains and are very large, including millions of domains within each. An address such as members.internetsimplicity.net is an example of a domain with a subdomain within it.

form - A form is a element that is sometimes included in a website which has pre-made boxes or users to enter in text usually with a "submit" button. For example, one's name, company, feedback, comments, etc. Click here to see an example of a form.

Flash - Flash is a program owned by Macromedia which produces high quality animation and interactive graphics for the web.

ftp - Stands for "File Transfer Protocol". This is a standard language that is used to transfer files over the Internet. Sometimes you will come across an address like "ftp://www.internetsimplicity.net/documents.doc" The "ftp" in the beginning of this means that it is communicating with the server in a special language used only for transferring files, not HTML. See also http

HTML - Stands for Hypertext Markup Language. This is the main programming language of the Internet. Your browser reads HTML files and knows from that code how to display a page. The word "Hypertext" is another name for text that links to other pages on the Internet. Traditionally, the word "markup" was used to mean for an editor to put marks on a page to show how it should be displayed when printed. (i.e. a newspaper or magazine article) You can see HTML by going to your browser window and clicking View>Source. Your browser interprets this code and turns it into what you see on your browser.

http - Stands for "Hypertext Transfer Protocol" This is a standard language that is used to transmit specifically HTML and other similar languages to your browser. An address like "http://www.internetsimplicity.net" in your browser's address bar means that your browser is receiving HTML and other code from the location www.internetsimplicity.net. See also ftp

Java Script - This is a programming language that runs on a client's browser which makes a page more interactive. Java Script can do things such as make animated images, pop-up windows, cause an image to change when your mouse rolls over it, etc.

JSP- Stands for Java Server Page. It is a server side scripting language. Instead of running on the viewer's computer, as with Java Script, it runs on the server before the page reaches the viewer's computer.

mySQL - (Pronounced "my-ess-cue-el") This is a database which is commonly used with web pages. It can allow viewers to look up specific information from a large quantity of data stored in the database. Example: A website has a "look up a member" text area. The viewer can search by last name, and find a single name or list of names out of all of the names stored in the database. The language that is used to perform this search is called Structured Query Language (SQL). See also: SQL

Perl - A commonly used programming language that is often used for server side scripting which has strengths in manipulating text.

PHP - Stands for "Hypertext Preprocessor." A server side scripting language used normally on Unix-based systems. It is similar to other scripting languages, but was designed specifically for the purposes of server side scripting on web pages, so it is often has simpler expressions for more commonly used applications.

POP E-Mail - POP stands for "Post Office Protocol." It is a language that is used to send e-mails directly to a client's computer. With web-based e-mail, such as hotmail, or traditional Yahoo, a user logs onto a website, and their e-mail is on that website, not on their own computer.

script - A script is essentially a program. The only difference is that while a program runs directly on the operating system of a computer, a script runs on another program which is running on that operating system. (For example, Java Script is run on a browser, and not on the actual Operating system of the computer.)

server - A server is a computer that stores information, and "serves" that information to viewers who request to see it. Everything that you see on the Internet is stored somewhere on a server. See the tutorial for further explanation.

server side script - A server side script is a program that is processed on the SERVER, before the information ever reaches the viewer's computer. Compared to a client side script, which is processed on the CLIENT's computer. Examples of languages commonly used as server side scripts: php, jsp, asp, perl. Examples of client side script: Java Script.

shopping cart - This is a piece of software that allows users to make financial transactions online.

spam filter - Spam is a term used to mean unsolicited, bulk e-mail that clogs your e-mail inbox and is often annoying. A spam filter is a program that will actually capture e-mails that look like spam before they are sent to your in-box.

SQL - Stands for: "Structured Query Language" A "Query" on a database is basically a search. On certain types of databases, a user can search by any number of criteria (for example by name, date, last name, etc, etc). SQL is the language that these queries take the form of.

SSI - Stands for: "Server Side Include" A server automatically stores certain data about it's web web pages such as the date they were created, when they were last updated, etc. A web page can request that a server includes this value in a certain spot in the web page before it is sent to the viewer. For example, you could say in your webpage: "This page was last modified: , and in the place of that long complicated string, the server would put the date it was last modified.

SSL - Stands for: Secure Socket Layer. This is a very secure type of encryption that is used to make sure that a connection is secure before a viewer gives their credit card number, views personal information, etc. It makes sure that there is not a third party viewing a transaction, that the viewer's computer, and the host computer are who they say they are, etc. You will see a picture of a lock in Internet Explorer when you are in Secure Socket Layer. For a website to engage SSL, a website needs a digital certificate of authenticity. "Shared SSL"refers to when a host or other person allow you to use their digital certificate, and given that they know you are a legit company.

streaming audio/video - "Streaming" means that a file such as a sound or movie file gets played while it is being downloaded, instead of having to wait for the entire file to download before it plays. RealAudio is a brand of software that enables streaming audio.

transfer - This is the total amount of data which is transferred from a host's computer to other's computers over the period of a month. Usually measured in GB. See the "Bandwidth / Transfer" section of the tutorial for more information.

uptime - If your website is considered "up", it is viewable over the Internet. Uptime refers to the percentage of time that it will be viewable.

www - This stands for World Wide Web. This is the publicly accessible, widely available part of the Internet. There are other sections of the internet which are not as broadly accessible.

Zlib - This is a program on the server which compresses picture files on a website so that they will download to user's computers faster.