“I just used the CSS in my IMS GUI WYSIWYG drag and drop DHTML editor to create a Javascript interactive drop-menu that links to the URL on my ISP host that I got from Internic.”
I really do know what I am talking about. Do you? The fact is only a few months ago I would have had trouble with a couple of these terms.
I have been in this business for a long time and I think I know as much or more than anyone when it comes to computer graphics and the Internet. Even so, if I would have had trouble with a few of these terms a few months ago, I almost certainly would not have known what I was talking about only a few years ago.
The computer industry is rife with techno-bable (is that how you spell it?). I can coin new terms as fast as the next techie. It needs a good marketer however, to cast a new term into the lexicon of everyday techno-speak.
So what do these and all those other terms mean?
Here is a brief list for your reference. Just don’t blink. There are sure to be more by the time you have finished reading them.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language): The code that is used to define a web page. Don’t ask me who’s idea this term was.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): The expanded term is probably worse than the abbreviation. It refers to the ability to assign styles to elements on a web page (HTML document). Examples include position, size, color etc.
DHTML (Dynamic HTML): Incorporates the ability to change the CSS values in an HTML document after it has been loaded. The result are Animated and Interactive web pages.
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get): A computer program that displays a reasonably good example of the finished result as it is being constructed.
GUI (Graphical User Interface): A program that uses a visual interface instead of a command line interface. DOS uses commands, Windows uses a GUI.
Drag and Drop A GUI that allows you to use your mouse to drag elements from one location to another.
IMS (Interactive Multimedia System): I told you we are quite capable of creating our own anachronisms.
Anachronisms: Big words made up by VIP’s (Very Important People) and LITOM’s (Legends In Their Own Mind).
ISP (Internet Service Provider): A company that provides internet services such as web page hosting.
Dialup Service Provider: An ISP that provides telephone connection services so that you can connect to the Internet with your modem.
Access Service Provider: An ISP that provides any kind of access to the Internet such as Cable modem.
Modem (MOdulator – DEModulator) A device connected to your computer that goes Brrrr… Beee. Baaa. whenever you try to use it. If you have not figured out the purpose of this one yet you are probably not reading this.
Host: A computer that stores web accounts. You will often get a contract with an ISP to host your web site.
Server: A computer that serves other computers. A Host server stores web sites. A mail server stores and transmits email. All host computers are servers but not all servers are hosts.
Form: HTML code to collect information from a visitor.
Perl (Practical Extraction and Report Language): The most common scripting language for processing Form data.
CGI (Common Gateway Interface): A protocol for gathering data from a Form and sending it to a program or Script such as Perl. Often used to indicate the entire method for processing a Form but in fact it is only a transfer interface.
WWW (World Wide Web) (as if you did not know): Is a method for connecting many of the resources available over the Internet using HTML. Often incorrectly used as a synonym for the Internet.
Internet Is the physical world wide interconnection between computers and their resources using TCP/IP.
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol): Is a communication protocol between computers that wish to “talk” over a physical connection. It defines the rules on how they communicate. TCP/IP is the method by which all computers talk over the Internet but it works equally as well on a LAN.
LAN (Local Area Network): A kind of mini network between locally connected computers, often in a business. Gets into Intranets, Firewalls etc, which are topics for another day.
IP (Internet Protocol): The protocol that sends packets of data over the Internet.
IP Address (Internet Protocol Address): Defines were an IP packet is going. Often to somebody’s computer over the Internet. Your domain has an IP address.
Domain: An Internet Web Site identified with an IP address.
Domain Name: The name of a Web Site that is mapped to an IP address using a URL.
URL (Universal Resource Locator): Is the address of any resource on the World Wide Web. It often refers to a Web Page but it can include almost any file that can be found on a server connected to the WWW (see above).
FTP (File Transfer Protocol): The protocol used to transfer files from one computer to another over the Internet. It is what you use to copy your web pages to your host.
Spam: A luncheon meat made famous by Monty Python and now freely distributed over the Internet using TCP/IP on the WWW to your email box as soon as the distributor finds your Domain IP mail box host address.
Do you think that’s it? No way. Here is a web site that are dedicated to explaining these and many other arcane terms. There are probably more.
Steve White of http://www.IMSWebTips.com Virtual Mechanics & IMSWebTips offers DHTML tools and information, and also publishes a web tips ezine with lots of great ideas, snippets of code, and HTML and DHTML tutorials for any webmaster, regardless of experience.
