What is the World Wide Web?
The World Wide Web is, without doubt, one of the greatest creations of the modern age. The sad fact is that although it has become so instrumental to human lives, not many people actually ever bother to stop and ask themselves the question; “What is the World Wide Web?” This article gives a modern definition to this question and should enable you to understand this most important of inventions.
What is the World Wide Web? The Modern Definition
The World Wide Web is an internet based system on which documents are connected using hypertext links. Everything that is on the World Wide Web is identified using Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). The Web, as it is often called, has HyperText Markup Language (HTML) as it’s most basic building block.
HTML 5
HTML 5 is the latest version of the HTML language, which is used to present content on the World Wide Web. It was designed to carter for the demands of the modern computing world, where multimedia content continues to grow in popularity.
How do People Access the World Wide Web
Access to the World Wide Web is through the internet using web browsers. Some of the most popular browsers that are out there are;
- Mozilla Firefox
- Microsoft Edge
- Google Chrome
Who Invented the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web was invented in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee, who was then an employee at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
The World Wide Web Consortium is the group that’s responsible for safeguarding and setting standards for the World Wide Web. The consortium was formed and is still being led by the web’s founder Tim Berners-Lee. It currently has 461 members who are drawn from across the world.
Other Systems on the Internet
The question “What is the World Wide Web?” would not be complete without pointing out the fact that the World Wide Web is not the only system that’s on the internet. Other systems include email, torrenting and instant messaging. The World Wide Web is, by far, the largest.