Central Baptist Church

Learning Community Class - Winter 1997

The On Line Church

Alphabet Soup

It's true - computers don't speak our language. They speak binary, but since we interact with programs created by humans we don't have to worry about that. The problem is, programers often don't speak intelligibly. One of the more confusing areas is the multitude of combinations of letters which do not spell words. The result - Computerized Alphabet Soup.

HTTP - Hypertext Transport Protocol

This is the usual protocol of the web. Most of the time a web address starts with HTTP:// to indicate that this is the protocol to use to communicate between the client (your computer) and the server. The client sends an HTTP message to a computer running a Web server program and asks for a document. The Web server sends the requested (HTML) document to the client which is displayed by the client's browser program.

FTP - File Transfer Protocol

FTP is a way to transfer files between two computers. There are many anonymous FTP sites on the Internet. These are sites you can connect to without a username and password. Other FTP sites require you to have special access rights. There are special FTP programs for file transfer but often a web browser can be used to download files from an FTP server.

URL - Uniform Resource Locator

A URL is used to specify addresses in the World Wide Web, a form of information exchange linking computers connected to the Internet network. A URL is the fundamental network identification for any resource connected the Web, such as hypertext pages, graphical images, and sound files. URL's have the following format protocol://hostname/pathname. Protocols include HTTP, FTP, GOPHER

ISP - Internet Service Provider

The company that provides you with access to the Internet.

DNS - Domain Name System

Method of mapping an alphanumeric host name into a numeric IP address. The IP is required to find the site and DNS make it possible for me to give you my address as http://www.maherassociates.com instead of http://205.187.163.83 with is my domain's IP address.Your internet service provider (ISP) must give you the address of its DNS (Domain Name SERVER) which is used to translate addresses for your requests.

TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol, Internet Protocol

TCP/IP is a widely adopted set of networking protocols that allows two or more computers to communicate. To connect to the Internet, you generally will have to install TCP/IP on your computer. TCP/IP is also used for Intranet communcations and other local area networks.

HTML - Hypertext Markup Language

We saw when we looked at creating a web page, that HTML is a formatting language used to create Web pages.

VRML - Virtual Reality Modeling Language

VRML provides a way to create 3D graphical "virtual worlds" on the Internet. You must have a VRML enabled browser to view VRML sites. In a 3D virtual world users can choose the perspective from which to view the world.

CGI - Common Gateway Interface

The CGI is a method of allowing a to run a program on the Web server rather than request a document which was prepared in advance. The CGI program takes input from the Web server (which was sent by the browser) and creates a web page on the fly. If the URL points to a CGI program, the Web server runs that program and send the program's output back to the browser. Almost any time you complete a form in a web page and hit a submit button, you are calling a CGI program. (CGI programs can be written in many different languages including Java, PERL, C++ and Visual Basic).

PPP - Point to Point Protocol

PPP is a way to connect your computer to a network using a modem.

SLIP - Serial Line Internet Protocol

SLIP runs TCP/IP protocols over a serial link (such as your modem) rather than through a network card. This turns your serial port into a network interface. SLIP is used with PPP to provide dial up access to the Internet.

IE or MSIE - Microsoft Internet Explorer

Microsoft's web browser

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