UPLOADING - This is a term used for when you put a file from your computer to a remote computer. This is known in the FTP language as a PUT command.

URL - (Uniform Resource Locator) - This is a global term for a "place" or a "file" you can visit on the internet. This can be a web site, a location of a file, or just about any path to locate a service on the internet. When someone says they are going to give you a URL (pronounced "erl" in some cases), they mean a location on the internet to see or retrieve something.

Studying the Protocols below will help you to know which kind of URL they are giving you.

PROTOCOL - This is a fancy word for the method computers use to communicate with each other. In computers, there are several different methods that are used to communicate from one computer to another based on what you're trying to do. When computer programmers refer to the various methods a computer uses to communicate, they call them Protocols.

Here is your first list of Protocols:

TCP - (Transmission Control Protocol) - This is the core protocol that all other internet protocols are based on. Similar to the telegram, TCP allows other protocols to be send within it'r basic messaging system. For instance, if someone sent you a telegram with instructions on how to bake a cake, the telegram paper with writing would be TCP, and the instructions on that paper would be another "protocol" to bake a cake. In internet terms, a TCP packet might contain FTP information containing portions of a file.

IP - (Internet Protocol) - This is an extension to the TCP protocol which extends the header to specify "who" should receive a particular packet. Imagine if you will removing the need for a human to read the contents of a TCP packet in order to deliver it to the appropriate owner. Since each person on the internet is guaranteed a unique IP address before communicating, adding that number to a TCP packet allows for seamless delivery of the internet regardless of physical distance.

IP Address - (Internet Protocol Address) - This is your personal address on the internet. No one else on the internet should have your same IP address. An IP address looks something like, 147.14.87.23. This collection of numbers is not random, but tells the world what kind of company you're connecting from (size of company that is) and what your personal address is. Like everything else, you really don't need to understand how the number is created, just make sure you know what yours is. If you are calling into an internet provider, you are assigned a "dynamic" IP address that is different each time you call in (but don't worry about it).

SMTP - (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) - This is the method that computers use to send mail to each other. Kinda simple huh? You do not need to know how this works exactly. Just know that when someone refers to this term, they are talking about sending mail.

POP, POP2, POP3 - (Post Office Protocol) - This is the method that computers use to get mail from other computers. Remember, it's not used for sending mail, only retrieving it from mail servers. The various versions of POP are merely a result of updates to the POP technology. Don't be too surprised to see POP4 to POP10 in years to come.

FTP - (File Transfer Protocol) - This is the best method to transfer large files over the internet. Other protocols allow uploading and downloading, but they are not usually designed to transfer large streams of information for long periods of time.

HTTP - (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) - This is the method that your web browser uses to transfer web pages like this one. It is essentially a method of formatting text so that the browser knows which part is for the browser, and which part is for your viewing.

SPAM - Ever receive an email advertising a product or service that you didn't ask for? Then you have received SPAM. SPAM is very simply email that you did not request or sign up for. Services like Hotmail.com which provide free email sell your email address to advertisers for SPAMMING. If you have a friend who uses free email services, who sends you emails routinely, you can expect to find yourself on a publicly sold SPAMMING list. Where possible, it is always best to purchase your own email service from an ISP rather than subscribing to free services.

Abuse - There are many forms of internet abuse. Outside of unruly conduct where others on the internet use foul language and personal attacks via emails and Message Boards, there is a form that you can slip into when trying to advertise on the internet. The service of Discussion Boards (aka Message Boards) can lead one into participating in abuse where you might have thought it was impossible. Discussion Boards are electronic bulletin boards that allow people to trade messages on a daily basis. Each Discussion Board "forum" has a topic. If you post messages in forums that don't align with the topic being discussed, you can find your internet service provider (ISP) cancelling your account over night, so be aware if you decide to post advertisements for your business. It is also valuable to know that threats via the internet are considered illegal by law just like threats face-to-face. If someone threatens you, you can call the appropriate law officials in that person's area to press full charges.

Languages - There are many languages in the computer world today, almost too many to even mention. Luckily there are only a few very popular ones that you need to know in order to get into the internet business.

Here are a few languages that you might need to know if you wanted to make an internet web page.

HTML - (Hyper Text Markup Language) - This is the mother of all languages for the internet. This is the language that this web page you're reading was created in. Fortunately, it is a very simple language to learn (relatively speaking). It might look strange at first, but it won't take you very long to become a master, but hurry up! New versions of HTML are coming out every day, and soon it will be more difficult to follow. As with every language, the more you learn now, the easier it will be to following along as new commands are added (for more details see our lesson on basic HTML.)

DHTML - (Dynamic Hyper Text Markup Language) - This is not an actual stand-alone language but what we refer to as HTML and Javascript working together to create dynamic page content. What is dynamic content? This would be a web page that draws itself custom for each user. It might put your name in the page, allow for image animation, or create new web pages from scratch. Almost every modern web browser has the ability to use Javascript. DHTML solves a HUGE list of problems associated with laying out web page designs. If you are a webmaster, or plan to be, we strongly recommend you start learning DHTML as soon as possible. An excellent book for learning DHTML is DHTML the Definitive Guide. We do not have a lesson teaching this language.

XML - This is the next generation of web language that allows for better manipulation of page content that comes from databases. Unlike HTML which lays out data without knowing anything about what is being displayed, XML works a bit like a database in that it maintains an understanding of what type of data is being displayed. It is yet to be determined whether or not XML will become a permanent part of the webs future, but if you are struggling with displaying complex information on your web pages, XML is probably something you should look into before moving too far. An excellent book for learning XML is XML in a NUTSHELL. We do not have a lesson teaching this language.

JAVASCRIPT - This is a hybrid language that rests between HTML and Java. It is a joint creation of Sun Microsystems and Netscape. It allows many interactive features to become a part of an HTML page. Instead of a page loading and remaining static in appearance, Javascript can control animation, help you fill out a form more accurately, and many other custom features. If you're interested in an excellent book on Javascript, we recommend Javascript - The Definitive Guide.

JAVA - This is an object oriented language created by Sun Microsystems. This language allows you to create incredibly versatile applications for both in-browser data manipulation and server-side processing. The promise of Java is that if you write a single piece of code on one computer, you can seamlessly port that program to any other computer that has a Java "Virtual Machine." The Virtual Machine (or VM) is the application that executes the Java program (or class file). If you're interested in an excellent book on JAVA, we recommend Teach yourself JAVA 2 in 21 days.

VRML - (Virtual Reality Markup Language) or (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) - This is a language that is used to create Virtual Reality worlds that you can fly around in to find information. This language debuted in the world with lots of promise, but has fallen to the wayside due to many web browser plug-ins that do the job much better. VRML's primary problem in succeeding in the industry was that it was invented by programmers that didn't have extensive experience in 3D programming, thus the VRML players that displayed the worlds were very slow and didn't match even the slowest of 3D video games. A great book (however dated) by Chris Marrin and Bruce Campbell is VRML 2.0 Sourcebook.

PERL - (pronounced Pearl) is one of the most popular CGI languages in the world today. Originally created to allow system administrators to manipulate text files in UNIX, this language has grown to serve the needs of the internet with incredible accuracy. Being a direct companion to UNIX, it allows you to communicate with the servers robust array of features with very little code. Regardless of what CGI language you end up programming in, starting with Perl will increase your ability to learn and understand others CGI solutions. We highly recommend that you purchase a Learning Perl to better understand how to program in Perl.

PHP - This language allows webmasters to build web pages that dynamically render upon request. Meaning, at the moment you ask for a particular web page, PHP allows the web server to stitch a combination of files together to make up a single web page. This is a very useful language for web pages that feature a number of different data groups that might be coming from different locations. For instance, if you had a footer that needed to appear on each page, and you didn't want to manually code that footer each and every time, PHP would allow you to dynamically include this content into each page through a reference to a single footer file. PHP also allows for a number of conditions to be checked before including various HTLM fragments. If you wanted a special footer for the Macintosh vs. the Windows platform, you could use PHP to query the browser type, and then include the appropriate content.

JAVA Servlets - Similar to any CGI script that captures and processes data, the JAVA language is also used to create server side programs that allow for complex data manipulation. In fact, JAVA is quickly becoming the industry leader in back-end server-side coding for just about every platform on the internet today.

JAVA Beans - A close cousin to CGI scripts, JAVA beans are usually compact pieces of object oriented code that controls the manipulation of a particular piece of data. For example, if you had a business that sold cars, you might write a few JAVA Beans to handle information about your order. Some beans might manipulate car features, while other beans might control the interaction for interest rates on loans. The core benefit behind bean technology, is that a group of developers can create beans irrespective of how their co-workers are creating beans. Once the project is finished, the lead programmers can use each of the beans instantly.

C, C++ - This is a very popular 3rd generation programming language that is used to create applications like Netscape and just about everything else you run on your computer today. It is also very versatile in that it can also act as a powerful CGI language. Depending on your preference, and what kind of problem you're trying to solve with your CGI, you may or may not need to use such low level languages like C or C++.

Other Services

EMAIL - (Electronic Mail) - If you are reading this web page I assume you already know what email is. If not, here it is in a nut shell. Electronic mail is an electronic means of sending a message from one computer to another in an organized fashion. Sending email uses the SMTP protocol that we talked about earlier. There are many places to get email service from. We recommend that you use a local internet provider. They usually have better service to the internet and are considerably cheaper than commercial services such as CompuServe, AOL, Prodigy and other services of this nature. The smaller the company, the better the price, and the more they try to keep your business by working hard for you (trust us, we're not internet providers). A recommended book to learn more about the details of sending email is, O'Reilly's book Sendmail.

MIME - (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) - This is an extension to (most often) SMTP that allows files to be attached to emails. It's a simple method of translating a file into text (base 64 Unix-to-Unix Encoding) and then gluing that text to the end of a file for transmission along with the original email. There are many complex features within MIME like nesting files inside files and others, but you can probably comfortably never learn a thing about it until you get that job programming internet email software. A recommended book to learn more about MIME is O'Reilly's book Sendmail

IRC - (Internet Relay Chat) - This is a new technology that allows you to communicate with other people on the internet instantly without waiting for emails or newsgroup postings to receive a response. IRC's let you dial into "Channels" (which are sometimes called rooms) and join conversations. America On-Line has a similar service they call rooms. Internet IRC's are better because they have more Channels (or rooms if you like) and the service is comparably free.

USENET - (Internet Newsgroups) - This is a more complex service that the internet provides. However, you will have to get service from your internet provider before you will be able to access a Newsgroup. A Newsgroup is a collection of locations where people post messages for everyone in the world to read. If someone is interested in responding to your message or posting, they have the option to email you directly with their response, or post a reply for everyone to read. The most valuable feature of this service is for finding answers to questions. You simply pick the newsgroup that best deals with your question, and go there to post it. After a couple a days, you will most likely have several responses.

Cookie(s) - If you've had any conversations with people about the internet you might have heard someone talk about cookies. These are small text files that are written to your hard drive from web sites that want to store information about you. There are a lot of myths about cookies, and unfounded fears that should be dismissed. One, cookies shouldn't contain any sensitive information that would cause you harm if someone read the file. Two, cookies have restrictions in that ONLY the web site that wrote the file can read it back. Each cookie file is stored based on the domain name (say Borders.com) that created it. If Amazon.com stored a cookie on your computer, Borders.com cannot read that file. A web site only gets the file that THEY created. If you've never heard of cookies before, don't worry about them. They greatly enhance your experience on the internet, and reduce your need to constantly tell a web site what it is you're looking for. Disabling cookies will prevent you from visiting some sites all together, so it is recommended you leave them turned on.

Recommended Books:

 

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