Topics covered :
- Introduction to Internet, URL, WWW, and its applications- Web, email, Chat, VoIP
- Website: Introduction, the difference between a website and webpage, static vs dynamic web page, web server, and hosting of a website.
- Web Browsers: Introduction, commonly used browsers, browser settings, add-ons, and plug-ins, cookies
Web Browser
- A web browser (commonly referred to as a browser) is a software application for accessing the information on the World Wide Web. When a user requests a particular website, the web browser retrieves the necessary content from a web server and then displays the resulting web page on the user’s device.
- Web browsers are used on a range of devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
- In 2019, an estimated 4.3 billion people used a browser. The most used browser is Google Chrome, with a 64% global market share on all devices, followed by Safari with 17%.
Web Browser – History
- The first web browser, called WorldWideWeb, was created in 1990 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
- He then recruited Nicola Pellow to write the Line Mode Browser, which displayed web pages on dumb terminals; it was released in 1991.
- In 1993, “the world’s first popular browser“ Mosaic was released. Its innovative graphical interface made the World Wide Web system easy to use and thus more accessible to the average person.
- In 1994 Netscape, which released the Mosaic-influenced Netscape Navigator by Marc Andreessen the leader of the Mosaic team. Navigator quickly became the most popular browser.
- Microsoft launched its own browser named Internet Explorer in 1995. In 2002 market share of Internet Explorer peaked at over 95%.
- In 1998, Netscape launched the Mozilla Foundation to create a new browser using the open-source software model. This work evolved into Firefox, first released by Mozilla in 2004.
- In 2003, Apple released its Safari browser. It remains the dominant browser on Apple platforms.
- In 2008, Google launched the Chrome browser. In 2012, its become the most popular browser. Chrome has remained dominant ever since.
Web Browser – Most Popular
- Google Chrome
- Mozilla Firefox
- Microsoft Edge
- Opera
- Apple Safari
Web Browser – Settings (Google Chrome):
- Autofill
- Privacy and security
- Appearance
- Search engine
- Default browser
- On start-up
- Languages
- Downloads
- Printing
- Accessibility
- System
- Reset and clean up
- Extensions
- About Chrome
Add-ons / Extensions / Plug-ins :
- A browser extension / Add-ons/plug-in is a small software module for customizing a web browser.
- These extensions/add-ons/plug-ins are used to extend the features or capability of browsers.
- Browsers typically allow a variety of extensions/add-ons/plug-ins, including user interface modifications, ad blocking, and cookie management.
- Browser plug-ins are a separate type of module.
- The main difference is that extensions are usually just source code, but plug-ins are always executable (i.e. object code).
- As of 2019, plug-ins have been deprecated by most browsers, while extensions are widely used.
- The most popular browser, Google Chrome, has thousands of extensions available but only one plug-in: the Adobe Flash Player which is disabled by default.
Cookies
- A cookie is a small piece of data sent from a website and stored in a user’s web browser, in a text file, while the user is browsing a website.
- A computer “cookie” is more formally known as an HTTP cookie, a web cookie, an Internet cookie, or a browser cookie.
- Some cookies are deleted automatically after closes his browser while others, called tracking cookies, remain saved and load the next time user visits the same websites
Types of Cookies – There are different types of cookies-
- Session cookies are used only when a person is actively navigating a website; once you leave the site, the session cookie disappears.
- Tracking cookies may be used to create long-term records of multiple visits to the same site.
- Authentication cookies track whether a user is logged in, and if so, under what name
- Introduction to Internet, URL, WWW, and its applications- Web, email, Chat, VoIP
- Website: Introduction, the difference between a website and webpage, static vs dynamic web page, web server, and hosting of a website.
- Web Browsers: Introduction, commonly used browsers, browser settings, add-ons, and plug-ins, cookies