To put it glowingly, 'The World Wide Web (known as "WWW' or 'the Web') is the universe of network-accessible information, the embodiment of human knowledge.

What is really is, is a massive collection of documents that are interconnected through these nifty little things called hyperlinks. Hyperlinks can send you anywhere, from Disney to Tokyo.

The World Wide Web and the Internet are not the same thing.
The WWW has only emerged very recently compared to the Internet, which had its beginnings in 1967 as a military computer system designed to survive a nuclear attack. Building off this already massive network of machines, Tim Berners-Lee began the WWW (w3) project in the early 1990's. In a few short years, the WWW blossomed as it was discovered by serious tech-heads and newbies alike.

How it's all Connected
The Internet is technically a massive WAN (wide-area network) packet-switched network where each host acts as a server. Each host computer (we'll call 'em servers) has a high speed connection to at least two other servers, criss-crossing the planet in a gigantic type of web. Interestingly enough, this is not where the World-Wide Web got its name.

When you dial in to an ISP (internet service provider), it connects you to a computer that is in turn connected with the internet. When your computer connects, it becomes a 'host' computer, with its own IP (internet protocol) address assigned by your ISP. It usually looks something like '204.56.162.178'. Every computer connected to the internet has an IP address. This is how data finds its way around.

How it all Works
All data sent over the internet is sent in packets. These packets can vary in size but are usually 1K or less. (Sometimes, data is sent with only the initial header, and a continuous flow of information. This is called streaming). Every packet is composed of two parts: The data, and the header.


When you send a request for a web page, such as 'www.yahoo.com', the first thing that happens is that your request goes to your ISP server.

From there, your computer is connected to the remote host through the ISP's server. All graphics and text associated with the page you are viewing are transferred, and the connection is closed.