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What is the World Wide Web? The World Wide Web is the network of computers from all over the world thatcommunicate with each other using the HTTP protocol, a language that allows thetransmission of web documents. Be careful as this term is not synonymous with the Internet because it is defined as a network of networks, where the computerscommunicate with protocols other than HTTP. The web is what you see on your Internetbrowser, the web pages complete with graphics, sound and other information. All thishas got to come from somewhere, and this is where web hosting comes in.
Web Hosting The information that you see from your web browser is contained in web pages. Theseweb pages are kept on computers called web servers. Web hosting is about the storageof the web pages so that people can access them. It is possible to host your ownwebsites yourself but the reasons stopping most people doing this is that there areissues to consider with having the right hardware and software to successfully hostyour web pages. Your web pages will take a certain amount of space, users will needto download each page to view them and your Internet connection needs to be fast tooffer good performance to your viewers. Using specialized companies that offer webhosting capabilities on their web servers will take most of these worries away fromyou but you will need to choose wisely and weigh up the costs and your needs. Inaddition to having access to a web server, you will also need to register a domainname (for a cost) that uniquely identifies your website.
What Web Hosting Can Do For You The most basic service that web hosting offers is that it exposes your web pages forothers to see. The other services are: email capabilities that allow for email to bereceived and sent from your server; database capabilities that allow for largeamounts of information to be updated and accessed on the web; and dynamic contentwhich allows for users to interact with the web pages you ve made.
Website Development Poorly designed websites will most likely turn away users and harm the credibilityof the information it contains. Thought should be put in on the way it looks and theway you intend your users to interact with the content. It is also recommended formore complex websites, a structured development process should be followed. Here isa guide to the logical steps of web development: Requirements Analysis: What is the purpose of the website? What content should itcontain? Design: How should the pages be linked? What structure should they take? Howshould the pages interact with the user? Implementation: This step is the actual coding of the websites in accordance tothe previous websites. Testing: Does the website do what it should? Maintenance: Is the information on the website up-to-date?
Some useful hints for web development below are taken from software quality aspectsbut they apply to the development of websites as well. They are described in termsof web development:
Reliability: Is the website reliable? Do faults allow for the system to continuerunning? Robustness: How does the website respond to incorrect input? Performance: How fast does the web page respond to user s actions? Is it efficientin processing requests and inputs? Usability: Is the website easy to navigate and understand? Maintainability: Is the website easy to change? Can new functionality be added? Portability: What software requirements does the website require? Will this limitthe amount of potential users? Understandability: How well do you understand the website you ve developed?
When designing your website, keep these quality aspects in mind as they will helpyou develop pages worth visiting. How to choose the way to host your website is halfof the problem, the other half is to create a website that people would want tovisit and come back to. Knowledge of producing a good design can help you get themost out of your creations.
