Glossary for
Internet-based Technologies

Since the Internet-based technologies are still new, new terminologies are emerging. We provide a glossary of terminology commonly used in Internet-based technologies. This glossary is not intended to be comprehensive and exhaustive. More of terminologies which cannot be found here might be found in the WhatIs.com web site.

applet
On the Web, using Java, the object-oriented programming language, an applet is a small program that can be sent along with a Web page to a user. Java applets can perform interactive animations, immediate calculations, or other simple tasks without having to send a user request back to the server.

B2B
On the Internet, B2B (business-to-business), also known as e-biz, is the exchange of products, services, or information between businesses rather than between businesses and consumers.

CSS (cascading style sheet)
A cascading style sheet (CSS) is a Web page style sheet derived from multiple sources with a defined order of precedence where the definitions of any style element conflict. CSS gives more control over the appearance of a Web page to the page creator than to the browser designer or the viewer.

CGI (common gateway interface)
The common gateway interface (CGI) is a standard way for a Web server to pass a Web user's request to an application program and to receive data back to forward to the user.

e-commerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. In practice, this term and a new term, "e-business," are often used interchangably.

encryption and decryption
Encryption is the conversion of data into a form, called a cipher, that cannot be easily understood by unauthorized people. Decryption is the process of converting encrypted data back into its original form, so it can be understood.

e-procurement
e-procurement is the business-to-business purchase and sale of supplies and services over the Internet.

extranet
An extranet is a private network that uses the Internet protocols and the public telecommunication system to securely share part of a business's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers, or other businesses.

firewall
A firewall is a set of related programs, located at a network gateway server, that protects the resources of a private network from users from other networks. (The term also implies the security policy that is used with the programs.)

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the set of "markup" symbols or codes inserted in a file intended for display on a World Wide Web browser. The markup tells the Web browser how to display a Web page's words and images for the user.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the set of rules for exchanging files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web.

HTTPS (Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
HTTPS (Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is a Web protocol developed by Netscape and built into its browser that encrypts and decrypts user page requests as well as the pages that are returned by the Web server.

intranet
An intranet is a private network that is contained within an enterprise. It may consist of many interlinked local area networks and also use leased lines in the wide area network.

netiquette
Netiquette is etiquette on the Internet. Since the Internet changes rapidly, its netiquette does too, but it's still usually based on the Golden Rule. The need for a sense of netiquette arises mostly when sending or distributing e-mail, posting on Usenet groups, or chatting.

on the fly
In relation to computer technology, "on the fly" describes activities that develop or occur dynamically rather than as the result of something that is statically predefined

PDF (Portable Document Format)
PDF (Portable Document Format) is a file format that has captured all the elements of a printed document as an electronic image that you can view, navigate, print, or forward to someone else.

Portal 
Portal is a new term, generally synonymous with gateway, for a World Wide Web site that is or proposes to be a major starting site for users when they get connected to the Web or that users tend to visit as an anchor site

streaming video and streaming media
Streaming video is a sequence of "moving images" that are sent in compressed form over the Internet and displayed by the viewer as they arrive. Streaming media is streaming video with sound. With streaming video or streaming media, a Web user does not have to wait to download a large file before seeing the video or hearing the sound. Instead, the media is sent in a continuous stream and is played as it arrives.

Undernet
According to its home page, the Undernet is the largest network of Internet Relay Channels (IRCs) on the Internet.

Usenet
Usenet is a collection of notes on various subjects that are posted to servers on a worldwide network. Each subject collection of posted notes is known as a newsgroup.

videoconference
A videoconference is a live connection between people in separate locations for the purpose of communication, usually involving audio and often text as well as video.

virtual reality
Virtual reality is the simulation of a real or imagined environment that can be experienced visually in the three dimensions of width, height, and depth and that may additionally provide an interactive experience visually in full real-time motion with sound and possibly with tactile and other forms of feedback.

Webcasting
Webcasting  (push technology) is the prearranged updating of news, weather, or other selected information on a computer user's desktop interface through periodic and generally unobtrusive transmission over the World Wide Web (including the use of the Web protocol on intranets).

XML (Extensible Markup Language)
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a flexible way to create common information formats and share both the format and the data on the World Wide Web, intranets, and elsewhere.

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