Lecture 1

Question 1

What is computing?

Answer 1

• Refers to the use of computers, they can be:
• Used to interact with memory and devices
• Made to follow instructions to manipulate data in
order to:
• Make calculations
• Process input
• Produce output

Question 2

What is hypertext?

Answer 2

Text that can be browsed through, linked, cross-referenced, and annotated, in a non-linear manner in order for users to achieve more

Question 3

What does the prefix “hyper” mean?

Answer 3

The prefix hyper means “to enhance”

Question 4

What is the WWW?

Answer 4

WWW stands for World Wide Web.
The WWW is:
• A hypertext system
• A network
• A collaboration tool
• A framework
• A large graph

Question 5

The WWW is a hypertext system where text can be…?

Answer 5

Where text can be:
• Browsed through
• Linked
• Cross-referenced
• Annotated

Question 6

What is a distributed document delivery service?

Answer 6

allows for interoperability in a heterogeneous networked

environment, through the implementation of shared protocols

Question 7

What do e-Commerce, collaborative writing and community

building, and distributed document services, have in common?

Answer 7

They all use the WWW as their platform
• i.e., a platform or framework that gives way for an application or
system

Question 8

What are some protocols used by the Internet?

Answer 8

HTTP, TCP/IP, UDP, FTP

Question 9

What kinds of tools does the WWW support?

Answer 9

e-commerce, collaborative writing and community,

Question 10

what are 3 high level overviews of the WWW

Answer 10

• Document delivery system
• Distributed hypertext system
• Mathematical models of the WWW

Question 11

What is a document delivery system? What concepts does it use? What are the basic technologies and issues with it?

Answer 11

• Concepts: availability, accessibility, usability
• Basic Technologies: client-server architectures, search
engines, session and state
• Issues: Ownership, control, authority, and power

Question 12

What is a distributed hypertext system?

Answer 12

• Distributed over the Internet (e.g., status codes)
• Document formatting (e.g., markup and styling languages)
• Dynamic documents (e.g., scripting languages)
• Interactivity (i.e., Web 2.0)
• Beyond the basics
• e.g., linkbases, open hypermedia, multi-links

Question 13

What are some mathematical models of WWW?

Answer 13

• The ‘web graph’ (i.e., the structure of WWW links)
• Power laws (i.e., link distributions and user habits)
• Practical and theoretical applications

Question 14

What is a web service?

Answer 14

• Distributed computing (e.g., collaboration)
• Services used by programs for remote execution of programs
• Significant evolution from old style middleware
• Particular interest in: asynchronous message-based protocols,
n-tier architectures

Question 15

How are browsers software platforms?

Answer 15

• Styling and Scripting languages (e.g., CSS, PHP, jQuery)
• The Document Object Model (DOM) as an Application
Programming Interface (API)
• Particular interest in:
• Programming experience, CSS and element inheritance,
errors and opportunities (e.g., graceful degradation,
progressive enhancement)