Web Glossary

AnchorSynonym for hyperlink

ApacheA free, open source web (HTTP) server software. Apache is also the most widely used Web server software, with its main competitor being Micosoft IIS.

APIApplication Programming Interface. A set of routines provided in libraries that give a programmer access to a third-party program, such as Windows, Google, Amazon, or games, so software can be written to work with it.

AppletA Java program designed to run in a web page.

ASCIIIn non-technical terms, for Web development ASCII refers to non-binary, text-only files that can be edited with a text editor such as notepad. HTML and CSS files as ASCII format. Images are binary format.

ASPActive Server Pages.

BlogShort for weblog, it is a online, easily-updated journal containing thoughts, comments, and philosophies that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption.

ColdFusion

CookieA small text file saved on the visitor's computer hard drive by certain web sites used, most often, to store information such as user ID, user preferences, archive shopping cart information, etc. so they do not need to be re-entered. Cookies can only be read by the web site that saved them.

CSSCascading Style Sheets. Language used to describe how an HTML document should be formatted.

DomainName give to computer connected to the Internet, for example: microsoft.com. Can be purchased for $3-$20/year.

Flash

JavaScriptAn intepreted, event-based web scripting language, usually on the client-side (not always).

Hosting

IISMicrosoft Internet Information Server. Microsoft's web (HTTP) server software.

Intranet

J2EEJava 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) - a version of Java for developing and deploying multi-user, multi-tier, modular enterprise applications. Servlets, JSP, EJB, JMS, and the Java Web-services APIs (SAAJ and JAX-RPC) are all part of J2EE.

JavaA multi-platform, compiled, high-level, object-oriented programming language developed and maintaned by Sun Microsystems. Used to create evertything from powerful stand-alone or Web-based applications (opr Applets) to animations, real-time applications, and mobile applications/games.

DreamweaverThe industry's leading graphical web page/site authoring software developed by Macromedia (now Adobe). Currently on version 8 and apart of the Studio suite with Flash and Fireworks.

Expression WebMicosoft's replace for FrontPage, their graphical web authoring software. Said to contain many improvements including the CSS, XML, XHTML, RSS, .NET support.

FTPFile Transfer Protocol

HTMLHyperText Makrup Language. The standrd tag-based, ASCII markup language used to create web pages. A subset of Standard Generalized Mark-Up Language (SGML).

JPG or JPEGA file format for photographs, often those used on Web pages. uses ‘lossy compression’ and supports up to 16.7 million colors.

MySQL(pronounced "my ess cue el"). The most popular open-source relational database. Capable of running on Linux or Windows.

PhotShopThe leading professional image-editing and graphics creation software from Adobe. It provides a large library of effects, filters and layers.

PHP

Pull

Push

RSSAlso known as RDF Site Summary, Rich Site Summary, or Really Simple Syndicatio. A lightweight XML format for distributing, syndicating, and aggregating news headlines, blogs, and other content on the Web.

Shockwave

SpiderAlso known as a crawler, bot, or robot. The component of a search engine that roams the Web, storing the URLs, and indexing the keywords and text of each page encountered.

SQLStructured Query Language (SQL), pronounced "sequel", is the de-facto standard language used to interface with relational database system, that is, request/query, delete or update information in the database, or create database objects such as tables, views, and indexes.

Telnet

Tomcat

W3CWorld Wide Web Consortium. the governing body for web standards. (http://www.w3.org/).

WYSIWYGAcronym for "What You See Is What You Get". Refers to a graphical interface where what you see on the screen when you are designing a web page is what you will see when you view the web page in a browser. Originated as reference to screen-to-print resemblences during pre-GUI DOS era.

XHTMLExtensible HTML - A hybrid between HTML and XML and the successor to HTML. XHTML requires stricter, clearner coding that will display more consistently across different devices/browsers, increase accessibility, separate data from formatting, and loads more quickly.

XMLExtensible Markup Language. A flexible way to create common information formats and share both the format and the data on the Internet and Web.


HTML Resources

W3Schools HTML Tutorial - a popular web sites for a variety of tutorials, i.e. css, asp, php, xml, hthml, and much, much more.

Page Tutor - HTML - a simple, easy-to-follow HTML tutorial using Notepad.

HTML Goodies - A popular HTML tutorial with an introduction on XHTML.

HTML Primer - Lessons, articles, and news on HTML.

XHTML Resources

W3Schools XHTML Tutorial - various information on XHTML.

The Scarms XHTML Tutorial - Oveview of the changes from HTML required in XHTML.

The New York Public Library on XHTML - overview of most (not all) of the benefits of XHTML.

HTML Source on XHTML - more benefits and XHTML coding practices.

CSS Resources

CSS Zen Garden - a gallery of stunning CSS work based on a single HTML file.

CSS Beauty - another gallery of very nice CSS-based web sites.

Eric Meyer's CSS / Edge - full of the latest, greatest clever CSS how-to's.

Accessibility, Validation, and Usability

W3C CSS Validator - write good code.

W3C Markup Validation Service - Validate your HTML and XHTML.

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) - Guidelines, tools, and evaluation fo web site accessibility.

Tidy - Clean-up your web sites with Tidy.

WAVE - Very nice accessibility tool.

Usability.gov - A guide for developing usable and useful web site.

Flash Resources

The FWA Flash Awards - see some cool sites!

Baycon Group Flash Tutorial - a good beginning Flash tutorial.

Macromedia Flash Support Center - Flash tutorials from Adobe/Macromedia.

Stock and Public Domain Images

FreeFoto.com - among the largest collections of free photographs for private non-commercial use on the Internet.

Pics 4 Learning - copyright-friendly image library for teachers and students.

Background Archive - free background images.

Doblevych.com - a digital media developer living in detroit with excellent professional photographs of the city.

PhotoGen - free stock photos.

A Digital Dreamer - royalty-free images and photographs.

Free Digital Photos - Wide-range of free images.

Web Hosting

Domain Website Hosting - Said to be an inexpensive option.

Website Templates - Have no design skills? Have no fear. You can buy a web site template.

Cheap Domain Names - Register a domain name for $1.99.

PHP

PHP.net - Home of PHP - download it, view documentation, etc.

W3Schools PHP Tutorial - Enough said.

Tizag PHP Tutorial - Another good source of many tutorials.

PHP Themes - Huge collection of cool (and free!) PHP web site themes.

PHP Portal Themes - More PHP web site themes.

AJAX, Adobe Spry Widget

Adobe Spry Examples - Adobe Labs Spry Web site: a new framework for Ajax

Adobe Spry Download Page - Download a free copy Adobe Spry

Adobe Spry DevCenter - Spry framework for Ajax Developer Center

Adobe Spry Release Notes - Spry framework for Ajax Readme/Release Notes

Adobe Spry Examples - A good variety of Spry examples