Chapter 1: Why do web addresses start with www?
Why do web addresses start with www? Thanks for asking. You might be surprised to learn that the famous www in website addresses didn't originate in Silicon Valley or New York, but at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN for short, which is situated on the French-Swiss border close to Geneva.
It was 1989 when British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee came up with the idea for a hypertext system. Essentially, it was a way to connect different pieces of data through links, creating something like a giant web that would work via the internet. And that's how the World Wide Web was born.
Every time you see three Ws at the start of a web address, that simply means you're on the World Wide Web, which is the part of the internet where websites are hosted. The first ever web browser and editor was initially only used for sharing information among CERN researchers.
Chapter 2: Who invented the World Wide Web and when?
Then in 1993, Berners-Lee got approval to release his invention to the public. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Wait a minute, are you saying the internet and web aren't the same thing?
Indeed, while they're closely linked, they're not in fact synonyms for the same thing. According to bbc.co.uk, the internet is a global network of computers all connected together. While the World Wide Web is a collection of web pages found on this global network of computers, your web browser uses the internet to access the World Wide Web.
Ok, that kind of makes sense. What about the other parts of a web address then, like HTTPS or .com at the end?
HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It's a secure communication system between your browser and the website, and the word secure is of crucial importance. It means your data is encrypted while being transmitted. And as a customer, if you visit a website that doesn't use HTTPS, hackers can easily steal any information you enter.
You could end up being a victim of identity theft, insurance fraud or loan fraud, for example. When it comes to the .com or .co.uk part at the end of a web address, that's what's known as a TLD, or Top Level Domain. Those are managed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a non-profit that oversees internet resources.
.com was first registered in 1985, back when the internet wasn't yet available to the general public. Originally it was short for commercial and was intended for businesses, but it quickly became very popular due to major tech and telecom companies like HP, Intel or IBM adopting it. The same thing happened in the UK where the .co of .co.uk also stood for commercial initially.
TLDs also help identify the type of website you're looking at. For example, .ac is used for academic institutions and .org for organisations like NGOs, open source projects and charities. There you have it! Now you know why web addresses start with www.
In under three minutes, we answer your questions and help you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. Listen along and you will really know for sure.
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