TUTORIAL
THE WORLD WIDE WEB
Presenter: Robert Inder, University of Edinburgh
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The
World Wide Web (WWW) is the fastest-growing use of the Internet---its
so-called
"killer application". This
tutorial is aimed at those who want
to know
what lies behind all this excitement.
The WWW
is said to make it simple both to publish and to
fetch
multi-media material over the Internet.
This tutorial will give
attendees
an overview of what the WWW is, what it can actually do and what
will be
involved in starting to make use of it.
The
tutorial will start from the basics of explaining terms like browser,
server,
HTML, crawlers and meta-indexes, and finish with giving an overview
of how
to write documents, to configure a WWW site, and the basics of doing
more
than just distributing static documents.
By the
end of the tutorial, attendees will have a clear idea of what is
involved
in using the Web, and where they can find the software and
detailed
technical information that they need.
PROVISIONAL COURSE
OUTLINE
Part 1:
General
What is the Web:
o A brief outline of its development
from supporting an on-line phone
directory to international art
exhibitions.
What makes it tick:
o Servers and Clients (Browsers)
o Naming space (URLs)
o Protocols
o Platform Independence
Preparing Information
o Markup vs. Page Description
Part 2:
Browsers and Browsing
Browsers
o
A look at currently available browsers
Finding what you Want
o Where do you start?
o How do you find you way around?
What is there to be found?
o A look round a handful of interesting
sites on the Web.
Part 3:
Distributing Information
Servers
o Currently available servers
Social/Management Issues
o Security
o Uniformity
o Flexibility
Part 4:
Preparing Documents
HTML
o Writing simple documents
Converters
o Generating HTML from text in other
formats
Part 4:
Preparing More Complex Material
Images
o Formats
o Manipulation
Forms
o The basics of form handling
o An example application: Logging
information
o An example application: Answering
questions