Web Science/Part1: Foundations of the web/Web Architecture

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Part1: Foundations of the web

Part2: Emerging Web properties

Part3: Behavioral Models

Part4: Web & society

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About the Web Science MOOC

Course elements  

• PART1: Week1: Ethernet · Internet Protocol  · Week2: Transmission Control Protocol · Domain Name System · Week3: Internet vs world wide web · HTTP · Week4: Web Content  · Dynamic Web Content
• PART2: Week5: How big is the Web?  · Descriptive Web Models  · Week6: Advanced Statistic Models  · Modelling Similarity  · Week7: Generative Modelling of the Web · Graph theoretic Web Modelling
• PART3: Week8 : Investigating Meme Spreading  · Herding Behaviour  · Week9: Online Advertising  · User Modelling
• PART4: Week10 : Copyright  · Net neutrality  · Week11: Internet governance  · Privacy

Completing the second block of the first part of the Web Science MOOC you will

• learn that the basic form of the web consisted of 3 main technologies (URI, HTTP, HTML).
• see that the concepts and ideas of each of these technologies wasn't new but the combination of all of them created such a tremandous extra value.
• realize how there where similar systems like the web and why the open (licence) structure of the web as well as compatibility added to the success of the web.
• have implemented a simple web server and web client
• know the basic components of HTML
• understand the importance of the 404 for web scale
• know the most important historical events that influenced the rise of the web

Theory

• protocol for requesting files (especially hypertext) from URIs
• HTTP header
• GET, POST,...
• status codes
• content negotiation
• request / response protocol (stateless)

Implementation

In order to get a better understanding we will implementing a web client and web server which understands HTTP 1.0 and only uses socket libraries.

Discussion

• the importance of 404 with respect to web scale
• what are the bad design issues of HTTP 1.0
• theoretical discussion of HTTP 1.0 and newer versions

• comparison: Stateless vs connection oriented vs connectionless protocols. Which part of the http protocol belong to which of the concepts?

understanding HTML

• linked documents
• The link as a directed edge (again 404 and web scale)
• mark up language
• open format is included into the text to be displayed
• different HTML elements

Web technologies

REST

• RESTful services

Cookies

as part of http or as a result of the flexibility of http?

JavaScript

Hacked in by Netscape navigator.

historical overview

CERN

• information management systems at CERN
• ENQUIRE
• How the web was deleted

Computing compatibility problems

• Compatibility problems of hardware: TimBL's NextStation

Industry

• Microsoft's Internet Explorer (Why is it actually called internet explorer? What a stupid name!) (inventing cookies)
• Netscape (e.g. inventing java script)

politics

• Bill Clinton's role in making the Web high priority.

similar applications and technologies

• Goopher
• usenet
• Compuserve
• compatibility of HTTP with other protocols in order to have all the content accessible
• open, non commercial and free nature of HTTP