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