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Some of our HKHS clients told us that they wanted to know more about the way the Internet and World Wide Web function. This web page answers questions raised in focus groups with our clients.

Questions about websites
Difference between the Internet and World Wide Web	Difference between Internet and Intranet
'htm' and 'html'	'http' and web addresses
Web addresses	What is a 'url'?

What is the difference between the Internet & the World Wide Web?

"The Internet" or "Net" is a much broader term than the "World Wide Web", although most people who refer to the Internet actually mean a Web-site available on the a World Wide Web.

The Internet is the network of interconnected computers, across the world, that use a common system to communicate with each other. This communication protocol is known as TCP/IP ( Transmission Control Protocol- TCP; and Internet Protocol- IP). Lots of different programs also use the Internet: including email and games.

The term "World Wide Web" or "Web" is used to describe the information that your computer web browser can see, on web sites available to the public from anywhere in the world. The "Web" of information is only possible because the "Net" connects computers, and that allows web browsers to call up information held on web server computers.

What is the difference between the Internet and an Intranet?

The Internet is the worldwide network of interconnected computers. An Intranet is a network of interconnected computers that belong to one organisation- it can't be accessed from the Internet. An Intranet may use the same protocols that are used on the Internet, but it can't be accessed by computers or people outside the organisation that owns the Intranet.

Why do so many web site addresses start with "http"?

Your web browser has to communicate with a web server (the computer on which a web site is stored) to 'call up' a web page. To do this web browsers use a means of communication called HTTP. This stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. So when a website address starts with 'http://' the browser is using that protocol to 'ask for' and receive web pages.

Why do website addresses end in 'htm' or 'html' so often?

Web sites are made up of web pages. These pages are often written in HyperText Markup Language (HTML). This is a very simple programming language used to 'mark up' text and images for retrieval. Your web browser software 'translates' the html into a well-formatted web page for your use.

What is a URL- is it a website 'address'?

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator, and you can think of it as a website "address", as it gives your web browser information about the location of the website you want to find. The first part of the URL is the protocol, which tells the web browser what sort of server it will be 'talking to' in order to retrieve the website. For most websites, the protocol is likely to be http. For many websites, the next part of the URL will be 'www', which tells the browser that it is looking for a location on the World Wide Web. The next part of the URL will be the domain name, which should include the type of site ('gov' is a government site) and also include the country code ('au' is the code for Australia). So the URL gives your browser a website 'address' that allows it to locate the website. When a URL is complete it might like look like this:
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/

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