Jersey-Mall.com - Glossary of Computer and Internet Terminology
A short compendium of commonly used computer terms that relate to the Internet
Access Provider - A company which provides its customers a service whereby they can access the Internet. The user
normally connects to the Access providers computer via a modem using a dial up connection.
Applet - A small Java program that can be embedded in an HTML page.
ASCII - (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) -- The world-wide 128 standard character codes used
by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, etc.
Bandwidth - The amount of information capable of being sent through a connection, usually measured in bits-per-
second (Bps).
Baud Rate - A measure of the rate at which a modem can transmit data. This is measured in bits per second (bps) -
named after the French engineer Jean Maurice Emile Baudot.
BBS - (Bulletin Board System) -- A computerized system that allows people to upload and download files, and make
announcements without the people being connected to the computer at the same time.
Binary - The number system containing only 1s and 0s on which all computers are based.
Bit - (Binary digIT) -- A single digit number in base-2 (1 or 0). The smallest unit of computerized data.
BPS - (Bits-Per-Second) -- A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to another.
Browser - A Client program (software) that is used to look at various kinds of Internet resources.
Byte - A set of Bits that represent a single character such as A, 5, or $. There are 8 Bits in a Byte.
Cache - a small but very fast memory used to store frequently used Data or instructions. It tries to "guess" what data is
going to be needed next by the Processor.
CGI - (Common Gateway Interface) -- A set of rules that describe how a Web Server communicates with another piece
of software on the same machine.
Cookie - A piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser that the Browser software is saves and sends
back to the Server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the Server.
Cyberspace - A term used to describe the whole range of information resources available through computer networks.
Originated by author William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer.
DSL - (Digital Subscriber Line) -- A method for moving data over regular phone lines. A DSL circuit is much faster than a
regular phone connection using a Modem.
Domain Name - The unique name that identifies an Internet site consisting of 2 or more parts, separated by dots. Used by the
Internet for locating the IP Address where information is located. The Domain Name is like a person’s name while the IP
Address is like an Address. There may be many Domains/IPA but not vice versa. See IP Address.
Download - To copy files from another computer to your own PC via a network. Opposite of Upload
E-mail - (Electronic Mail) -- Messages, usually text, sent from one person to another via computer.
FAQ - (Frequently Asked Questions) -- FAQs are documents that list and answer the most common questions on a particular
subject.
Fire Wall - A combination of hardware and software that separates a LAN into two or more parts for security purposes.
FTP - (File Transfer Protocol) -- A common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a way to log on to an
Internet location, such as a web site, for the purposes of sending or retrieving files.
Gateway - A hardware or software set-up that translates between two dissimilar protocols. For example, Prodigy has a
gateway that translates between its internal, proprietary e-mail format and the standard Internet e-mail format.
GIF - (Graphic Interchange Format) -- A common format for graphic image files.
Gigabyte - 1000 (actually 1024) Megabytes.
Hit - A "hit" is a single request from a web browser for a single item from a web server. For example, when a web browser
displays a page that contains 3 graphics, 4 "hits" occur at the server.
Home Page - The main web page of a web site that a browser is set to use when it starts up.
Host - A computer connected to the Internet that is a repository for services, such as web sites and email, that are available to
other computers on the Internet.
HTML - (HyperText Markup Language) -- The coding language used to create web pages.
HTTP - (HyperText Transfer Protocol) -- The method for moving hypertext files across the Internet. HTTP is the most
important protocol used in the World Wide Web (WWW).
Hypertext - Any text that contains links to other documents - words or phrases in the document that can be chosen by a reader
and which cause another document to be retrieved and displayed.
ICE - (Intelligence Concept Extraction) -- A technique used by some search engines to relate words to ideas. Ex.: If you do a
search for "photographic equipment" you may well find articles specifically about cameras.
In[ter]net - The vast collection of inter-connected computer networks that all use the TCP/IP protocols.
In[tra]net - A private network inside a company or organization that uses the same kinds of software that one would find on
the public Internet, but that is only for internal use.
IP Address - (Internet Protocol Address, or IPN, Internet Protocol Number) -- A unique number sequence consisting of four
parts separated by dots, ex: 137.42.186.3. See Domain Name.
ISDN - (Integrated Services Digital Network) – A method to move data over existing regular phone lines.
ISP - (Internet Service Provider) -- An institution that provides access to the Internet.
Java - A network-oriented computer language created by Sun Microsystems for writing programs that can be safely
downloaded through the Internet to immediately run without fear of viruses or other harm to the computer or files.
JavaScript - A programming language that is mostly used in web pages, usually to add features that make the web page more
interactive. JavaScript relies on the browser to interpret it.
JPEG (JPG) - (Joint Photographic Experts Group) -- A format for image files, usually photographs.
Kilobyte - 1000 bytes. (Actually 1024 bytes.)
LAN - (Local Area Network) -- A computer network limited to an immediate area like a building or floor.
Login/Logon - The act of entering into a computer system.
Megabyte - A million bytes. (Actually 1024 kilobytes.)
Meta Search Engine - A search Engine that utilizes and combines the search results of other search engines. Dogpile.com,
AskJeeves.com and Mamma.com are examples.
Mirror - To maintain an exact copy of something such as a web site. Usually to provide more widespread access to the
resource.
Modem - (MOdulator, DEModulator) -- A device that you connect to your computer and to a phone line, that allows the
computer to talk to other computers through the phone system.
Netscape - A common WWW Browser, and the name of the company that makes the software.
Network - Any time two or more computers are connected together so that they can share resources.
NIC - (Network Interface Card) -- A card that plugs into your PC and has a cable attached that is connected to a network.
The NIC controls the flow of information from and /to the PC and to and from the network.
Node - Any single computer connected to a network.
Packet Switching - The method used to move data around on the Internet. All the being transmitted is broken up into packets,
each packet has the address of where it came from and where it is going.
Password - A code word (may contain letters and characters) used to gain access to a locked system.
Plug-in - A piece of software (usually small) that adds features to a larger piece of software. Ex.: plug-ins for browsers and
web servers.
POP - (Post Office Protocol) -- Refers to the way e-mail software gets mail from a mail server. It is this POP account that you
tell your e-mail software to use to get your mail.
Port - A place where information goes into or out of a computer.
Posting - Information entered into a network communications system such as a message posted to a news group a page
posted to a web site.
PPP - (Point to Point Protocol) -- Most well known as a protocol that allows a computer to use a regular telephone line and
a modem to make TCP/IP connections and thus be really and truly on the Internet.
Queue - Data is placed in a queue if it cannot be processed at the point of time when a request is made. Ex.: a document goes
into the print queue and waits to be printed while the printer is still printing a previous request.
Search Engine - A utility program with database used to help people find web sites, news groups, etc. on the Internet relating
to particular requested subjects. Lycos, Google, Yahoo, AltaVista and Hot Bot are a few examples.
Server - A computer, or a software package, that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other
computers. Web sites reside on Servers.
Spam - (or Spamming) -- The use of a mailing list, or other networked communications facility as a broadcast medium (which
it is not) by sending the same message to a large number of people who didn’t ask for it.
Spider - A program used by some search engines for obtaining its information by traveling throughout the Internet visiting
from web pages to web page.
SQL - (Structured Query Language) -- A special programming language for sending queries to databases.
SSL - (Secure Sockets Layer) -- A protocol designed by Netscape to enable encrypted, authenticated communications across
the Internet. Most often the communications are between web browsers and web servers.
TCP/IP - (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) -- The litany of protocols that defines the Internet. Designed for
the UNIX operating system, it is now used for every major kind of computer operating system.
Thumbnail - A small image (thumbnail sized) used by web sites to display many images while minimizing the time to download
the full versions to the computer. By selecting a thumbnail, a larger detailed image is then downloaded.
TWAIN - (Technology Without An Interesting Name) – A standard interface used with devices such as scanners.
Upload - To copy files from your own PC to another computer via a network. Opposite of download.
UNIX - A computer operating system (the basic software running on a computer, underneath things like word processors and
spreadsheets). UNIX is designed to be used by many people at the same time (it is multi-user) and has TCP/IP built-in.
The most common operating system for servers on the Internet.
URL - (Uniform Resource Locator) -- The standard address of any resource on the Internet that is part of the World Wide
Web (WWW). It contains a Domain Name with extensions. Ex.: http://www.matisse.net/seminars.html
UUENCODE - (Unix to Unix Encoding) -- A method for converting files from Binary to ASCII (text) so that they may be
sent across the Internet via e-mail.
WAN - (Wide Area Network) -- Any network that covers an area larger than a single building or floor.
Web - See WWW.
WWW - (World Wide Web) -- The universe of connected hypertext servers which allow text, graphics, sound files, etc. to be
exchanged.
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