www (World Wide Web) is a system for linking web pages published on the Internet. Although it is commonly referred to as the “Web,” many people may not know about its history or structure.
In this article, we will explain in detail the overview of www, its components, and its relationship with the Internet.
What is www (World Wide Web)?
www (World Wide Web) is a system that links web pages published on the Internet. Invented and developed by Tim Berners-Lee, it has now become an essential part of our daily lives.
A mechanism for linking web pages published on the Internet
www is commonly referred to as “the web,” which means “a spider’s web that spans the world.” This is because the way the vast number of networks around the world are interconnected and constructed resembles a widely spread spider’s web.
www uses
HTML
to write web pages and HTTP to transfer documents, and also allows web pages to be interconnected using hyperlinks. This allows users to move smoothly from one web page to another. By connecting web pages through these links, much information on the Internet can now be viewed and exchanged all over the world.
The impact of www
www was invented and developed by Tim Berners-Lee in the late 1980s, and was released at the same time as HTML, the language for creating www.
Tim Berners-Lee worked as a software technology consultant at a nuclear research institute in Switzerland. The institute employs thousands of researchers, and he was looking for a way to efficiently disseminate information to them. That’s when www was invented. In 1990, the world’s first web server and world’s first web browser, the World Wide Web, were built.
This achievement had a major impact on the subsequent development of the Internet, and various web browsers such as Netscape and Internet Explorer were developed in the early 1990s. The general public could now easily use the Web, and the Internet rapidly spread throughout the world.
W3C plays a major role in the development of the Web
From here, I will explain the organization called W3C, which plays a major role in the development of the Web.
What is W3C?
W3C is an abbreviation for “World Wide Web Consortium” and is a public interest non-profit organization established to standardize technology on www and ensure interoperability. W3C has branches all over the world, and in September 1996, Keio University SFC Research Institute was appointed as the Japan branch.
In addition, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Institute for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence in the United States, the European Information Processing Mathematics Research Consortium in France, and Beijing Aeronautics and Astronautics University in China each serve as host institutions and jointly manage W3C.
Centered around these host institutions, over 12,000 developers around the world are currently participating in standards development, with over 400 members leading the way, including governments, research institutions, and vendors and providers from around the world. I’m doing it.
History of W3C
W3C was founded in October 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee, who developed the fundamental technologies of the Internet and made them freely available. Its establishment was supported by the European Joint Nuclear Research Agency, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the European Commission.
At that time, web architecture was in danger of splitting, so it was necessary to encourage development research and discussion to further advance web technology. Under these circumstances, the French National Institute for Information Processing and Automation joined in March 1995, and Keio University joined in September 1996, and both became pioneers of the host that operates the current W3C. It became.
Role of W3C
W3C’s role is to standardize web technologies to prevent variations in the quality of content on the Internet and ensure compatibility. W3C contributes to improving the quality and development of web technologies by compiling the various web technologies into specifications, creating international standards, and establishing international rules.
Accessibility as defined by W3C
Another role of W3C is to “enable people with disabilities to use the Web comfortably.” We are pursuing “accessibility” so that people with physical and mental disabilities can easily use web services and obtain information. This point is also defined on the W3C website.
Reference:
W3C How people with disabilities use the web (W3C)
What is W3C Recommendation?
A W3C Recommendation is the final stage of standards development conducted by the W3C. A W3C Recommendation means that the specification has been finalized and has been deemed to have sufficient international credibility. In other words, the contents of the specifications become “standardized technology” worldwide.
However, it is necessary to clear multiple deliberations in stages before reaching such a decision. That is the following deliberation.
working draft
The first step towards standardizing specifications is the Working Draft. This is the stage where the working group begins drafting a rough standard. Once the standard is reviewed and approved by the Director, the document will be made available to the community for public review.
final draft
Once the draft meets the working group’s rules and specifications and clearly addresses any questions raised during the review, it will move on to the “Last Call Working Draft.” The final draft will receive reviews from other working groups and W3C members over a period of three weeks.
This next step is usually a “candidate recommendation,” but depending on the director’s discretion, the director may skip the candidate recommendation and proceed to the next step, a “proposed recommendation.”
Recommendation candidate
Once we clear the final draft, we move on to the Candidate Recommendation, which attempts to implement the specification. The implementation pilot period begins when the director requests potential recommendations from the advisory committee.
Portions that may not be implemented during this implementation trial period are designated as “features at risk,” and portions where problems are actually identified will be removed from the specification after the implementation trial period ends.
If there are no problems, you can move on to the next step, the “Draft Recommendation.” However, if the Director confirms that there are important issues, you will be sent back to the first step, the “Working Draft.” .
draft recommendation
Once the recommendation stage has been cleared and the director requests the advisory committee for evaluation, the next step is the “Proposed Recommendation.” The draft recommendations undergo further rigorous deliberation and evaluation by the advisory committee.
At this stage, most revisions should not be necessary, but if a problem is discovered, the draft may be sent back to the previous “candidate recommendation” or even the first “working draft.”
W3C Recommendation
Once all stages have been passed and the director determines that the specification has sufficient support, it will move on to a W3C Recommendation (REC). The W3C Recommendation is the final stage of specification determination, and it is only at this point that it can be approved as an officially established standard. After this, the specification will undergo extensive development in its target area.
Relevance to the Internet
Although the Internet and www are often seen as similar, there are some important differences between the two.
What is the Internet?
The Internet is a network that connects information devices around the world, including PCs and smartphones. By using Internet Protocol (IP), information terminals can be interconnected. Information terminals connected to the Internet can communicate with each other no matter where they are in the world.
Difference between www and internet
The Internet is a global network that connects different networks and computers and allows them to send and receive data.
On the other hand, www is a system that connects information, web pages, and data on the Internet so that they can be viewed together. In other words, www exists as a function included in the Internet.
Three components of www (World Wide Web)
www is made up of multiple components, among which the following three are particularly important.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is one of the constituent elements of www, and is a markup language for expressing the structure and content of web pages. A markup language is a programming language that allows you to give meaning to text, images, etc. by surrounding them with tags.
HTML, also known as hypertext, allows multiple pieces of information, such as text and media, to be linked together. While regular text can only be read, hypertext allows users to navigate to other documents and information by following links.
Hypertext allows you to create links from one document to other documents or information, such as jumping from a table of contents page to the item you want to read with one click, or clicking on a text string to view an image or video. You can follow and check.
HTML not only indicates the structure and meaning of a web page, but also allows for the expression of a variety of content, such as text styles, image display, and video and audio playback. This allows you to provide visually appealing content to your users.
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is a communication protocol for sending and receiving web pages. Communication protocols are the rules and procedures by which computers and network devices communicate. It deals with a variety of communication-related topics, such as data transmission and reception methods, data formats, error detection and correction, and security, but simply put, it refers to the “means of communication.”
HTTP sends and receives data between clients and servers, processing web page requests and responses. A unified standard is required when users access web pages through a web browser, and the HTTP protocol is used.
HTTP is the underlying protocol of the web and is responsible for handling web page requests and responses efficiently and securely.
Versions such as HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2 are widely used on the current Web, and various functions have been added to achieve high-speed and secure communication.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is used to indicate the “location” of a resource on the web. A URL acts as a unique identifier that clues web browsers and other clients to access a particular resource. It’s like an address on the web, allowing you to find a specific resource by giving precise instructions.
A URL typically begins with the communication protocol “http://” or “https://” and is filled with various information about the web page. When a user types a URL into a web browser, the browser parses the URL and makes a request to retrieve the appropriate resource.
URLs also play an important role in things like
indexing
. Proper URL structure can help your web pages show up in search results.
URL structure
A URL is like an address in the web world, and its basic structure is as follows.
”
https
:// ◯◯◯/□□□/△△△”
https: :Protocol name◯◯◯:Host name/
domain
name□□□:
Directory
path name△△△:File name
From here, we will explain the URL structure in detail.
protocol name
As mentioned above, the first element of the URL indicates the protocol. Protocols are rules and standards that specify the means and methods of communication, and are used when exchanging information on the web. Common protocols include:
Setting your website to “https” is generally referred to as “SSL conversion,” and it has various benefits such as further strengthening security and improving SEO effects.
Host name/domain name
The next element of the URL is the hostname and domain name of the “www” server where the resource is hosted. The host name is necessary to identify the server and is recognized as the website address. A domain name is a string of characters that is a unique identifier on a network, and can be determined by yourself in a format that includes a host name.
For example, consider the following URL:
This URL uses the domain name “.co.jp” as the host name. The hostname is used to identify the server on which your website is actually hosted.
directory path name
The next element of the URL is the directory pathname where the resource is located. A directory pathname is a hierarchical pathname that indicates where a file is located on the server. Directory pathnames are generally represented as strings separated by slashes “/”.
For example, consider the following URL:
This URL specifies the directory pathname “mk/about”. This means that you are accessing a directory called “about” inside a directory called “mk” on your web server. In other words, inside “mk” there is a place called “about”, and the file inside is opened.
file name
The last element of the URL is the filename that indicates the location of the resource. This refers to a string with an extension such as “~/index.html” or “~/○○○.html” written at the end of a URL, and refers to the file name on the server to be accessed. Masu.
What is the difference between sites with www and those without?
Some website URLs include www and some do not. However, there is no rule that says “If www is not included, the URL will not be recognized,” so it doesn’t matter whether it is present or not. Although www is commonly used as a host name, you can still access the same site even if you omit it.
However, there are different benefits depending on whether www is added or not. When creating a website, consider whether to add www after understanding these benefits.
Advantages of having www
The advantages of having www are as follows.
Advantages of not having www
The advantages of not having www are as follows.
It is better to unify the presence or absence of www.
I explained that there is no problem whether you have a www or not, but there are some things to keep in mind from an SEO perspective. This means that if you are running the same website both with and without www, you should standardize on one or the other.
If you run the same website with both www and non-www domains, search engines such as Google will recognize the website as different sites. As a result, evaluations from search engines become dispersed, making it difficult to see the effects of SEO measures. Additionally, if the two sites are recognized as separate websites, they may be considered “duplicate content” and subject to penalties.
There is no problem whether you have www or not, but from the perspective of SEO, it is recommended that you operate with one domain.
How to set the presence/absence of www
From here, we will explain how to configure settings to unify the presence or absence of www. We will also explain how to operate the search console after setting it up.
Do a 301 redirect
301 redirects can be activated by writing the language in the Apache configuration file “.htaccess”. Set up a 301 redirect to forward to either www or no www.
■If you want to unify to www using “.htaccess”, write as follows – from here –
Rewrite Engine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\. [NC] RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L] —So far—
■If you want to unify without www using “.htaccess”, write as follows – from here –
Rewrite Engine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.(.*) [NC] RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://%1%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L] —So far—
Use canonical tags
Depending on the server environment, it may not be possible to unify the presence or absence of www even if you set it with “.htaccess”. In such cases, use canonical tags. Write the following tag somewhere within the <header> tag of your website.
<link rel=”canonical” href=”https://URL you want to set.com/”>
If it is difficult to change using “.htaccess”, we recommend this method.
After setting, specify it in Google Search Console as well.
After setting the presence or absence of www using one of the methods above, specify it in Google Search Console as well. By performing this operation, even if unintended links are unintentionally detected, the evaluation from search engines will be unified.
1. Log in to Google Search Console
2. Select “Add property” from the menu on the left side of the screen
3. Register websites with and without www
4. Click “Settings” from “Settings” for each site
5. Select either with or without www from “Domain to use”
6. Click the save button
Mechanism of viewing web pages
There are several steps when viewing a web page. Below, we will explain in detail the general process of viewing a web page.
Access URL from browser
To view a web page, first launch your browser and enter the URL of the page you want to access. The browser parses the URL you enter and makes a request to access that page.
What is a browser?
A browser is software for viewing web pages. It is used in information terminals such as PCs, smartphones, and tablets.
Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, etc. have the ability to read and display the source code of a web page.
Request IP address from DNS server
The browser requests an IP address from a
DNS (Domain Name System)
server based on the domain name of the parsed URL. A DNS server is a server that provides a mechanism to convert domain names and IP addresses.
An IP address acts like a computer’s address on a network, and is used by a computer to identify the destination of information and other communication partners. However, since IP addresses are just a string of numbers like “111.22.333.4”, it is difficult for humans to tell the difference at a glance.
Therefore, a domain name is a different format of an IP address that is easier for humans to understand. However, while domains are understandable to humans, computers cannot. Computers can only recognize IP addresses.
Therefore, it is necessary to link and convert domain names and IP addresses. The DNS server is responsible for this conversion. Based on the entered domain, the browser sends a request to the DNS server and receives the IP address of the corresponding web server.
Connect to web server IP address
The browser uses the IP address it receives to connect to the web server. A web server is a server that sends web page data and information, such as text and images, to the browser in response to requests from the browser.
Typical server software includes open source Apache, Nginx, and Microsoft’s IIS.
Web page is displayed
When a browser receives web page data, it parses and transforms the HTML document in the data to understand the structure of the content. It then displays the web page to the user, along with the design, animations, images, etc.
In this way, we are able to view web pages and obtain information through various steps such as requests and responses between the browser and web server, and HTML parsing and display.
Challenges in using www (World Wide Web)
With the spread of the Internet, www has become deeply pervasive in our lives, but there are some issues and concerns regarding its use. From here, I will explain the main issues when using www.
Security and privacy issues
With the development of www, security and privacy issues have also emerged. Information on the Internet can be exposed to a variety of threats. Examples include leaks of personal and financial information, unauthorized access, hacking, and phishing scams.
Security measures are becoming increasingly important, and providers of websites and online services must take appropriate measures to protect user information. It is also important for users to take security measures to protect themselves, such as using strong passwords and utilizing two-factor authentication.
Furthermore, privacy issues are also serious. Web services and advertising companies may collect behavioral data of individuals online and deliver targeted advertisements based on that data. Users should be cautious about collecting and sharing their information to protect their privacy.
Big data and information overload
A huge amount of data is being generated through the use of www. While this big data provides useful information, it also creates the problem of information overload. There is so much information out there that it becomes difficult to find what you need.
To deal with this situation, information providers need to ensure the reliability and quality of the information. Users must also acquire the ability to discern reliable information. To achieve this, we recommend learning skills and using tools for organizing and categorizing information.
It is also important to improve information literacy to relieve the stress caused by information overload and the difficulty in selecting information. By developing critical thinking and learning how to handle information appropriately, you can improve your ability to cope with information overload.
Further development using www
Although there are some issues and concerns about www, there is no doubt that it will play an increasingly important role as the Web continues to develop. In addition, with the introduction of new technology, www has the potential to further develop.
The spread and speed of the Internet
The spread and speed of the Internet are important factors for the development of www.
The proliferation of mobile devices allows users to access the web anytime and anywhere. Additionally, high-speed internet connections have made it easier for content providers to deliver high-quality, rich media. A growing number of web services offer value-added experiences such as video streaming, online gaming, and cloud-based applications.
These trends are the elements that support the further development of www. Fast and stable internet connections and the evolution of mobile devices are making it possible to improve user experience and create new business models, promoting the further evolution of www.
Utilization for blockchain
A blockchain is a type of database technology that records information. It is a technology that manages data in units called blocks and connects it like a chain to store data. Blockchain is expected to be used in various areas that make use of its characteristics.
For example, blockchain can contribute to improving information on online information and securing privacy. Personal information is stored on a distributed blockchain, and users can completely control their data. You can also reduce the risk of online fraud and unauthorized access.
In addition, blockchain is also useful in online trading. Automatic executable contracts, called smart contracts, are managed on blockchain and realize reliable transactions. This enables efficient trading without intermediate or reliability issues.
<Extra edition> “www” as net slang
“WWW” may be used on SNS as a net slang. The meaning of “www” in Japan indicates a laughing state, and it is used as “it is ugly www” and “laughing www”.
There are various reasons for “w”, but one of them has the theory that “WARAU” is abbreviated and “W” is used. If you arrange this “W” a lot like “www”, it looks like grass is growing, so now the word “grass” may be used in the sense of “laughing”.
summary
In this article, we have explained the outline of www, its components, and the relationship with the Internet. The web is a very important source of information in modern times and is indispensable for most people in everyday life.
If you deepen your understanding of WWW, it will be easier to see the flow and development of business in the future in the future. Please refer to this article and deepen your understanding of www.