What is WWW? The World Wide Web explained

The World Wide Web is a common term on the internet and plays an important role in information technology. You see "www" whenever you visit almost any website. So what is www, and what role does it play on the internet? Let's MONA Media find out in the article below. 

What is WWW?

The World Wide Web (WWW), often just called the web, is a global information system that gives access to documents and resources over the internet. The world wide web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, opening a new era of access to information and global communication.

The world wide web runs on three core technologies:

• HTML (HyperText Markup Language): A markup language used to create web pages and format content.
• HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol): A protocol that allows data to be transferred between web servers and browsers.
• Web browser: Software that lets users access and interact with web pages. Popular browsers include Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Safari.

Users reach the web through browsers by typing a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) or clicking links to move between pages. Web pages can contain text, images, video and other multimedia. The WWW has changed how we access information, work, relax and communicate. Today, people can share information quickly, connect with others around the world, and open up new opportunities for both individuals and businesses.

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History and development of the WWW

When was the World Wide Web created? The WWW was invented by scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, while he was working at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research). It was created to build a system for automatically sharing information and research results among scientists and research institutions around the world. 

Although hypertext and the internet already existed, no one had thought of using the internet for this purpose. After a period of research, Tim Berners-Lee proposed three key technologies for linking computers together: HTML, HTTP and URL. These three technologies are still widely used today.

• He also pioneered the world's first web browser and web server in 1990, running on Steve Jobs's NeXT computer. In 1991, Berners-Lee officially announced the WWW project, which started the spread of the system.
• From 1992 to 1995, the WWW showed strong growth potential. The number of web servers rose fast, from 50 in early 1993 to 500 by the end of that year. In 1993, CERN announced that the WWW would be free for everyone worldwide, which helped it spread. In this period, big names such as Yahoo! (1994), eBay and Amazon (1995) were founded, marking a turning point for e-commerce.
• From 1996 to 1998, the WWW was widely commercialized. The number of internet users grew significantly, and businesses realized how important it was to have a presence on the web. Google's PageRank algorithm drew attention, and in 1998 Google officially launched and became the leading search engine.
• After the dot-com bubble from 1999 to 2001, the WWW kept growing strongly thanks to high-speed internet. From 2002, notable platforms such as Wikipedia (2001), Facebook (2004), YouTube (2005) and Twitter (2006) appeared and shaped the modern internet.

Today the WWW covers the whole world and has become an essential part of daily life and business. As it has grown, though, it has also raised many challenges, such as information security and social problems online, which call for close management by governments and global organizations.

What is the difference between www and non-www?

Non-www and www are two ways of showing a website's URL. The difference is whether or not the "www" prefix comes before the domain name. 

Non-www, also called a "naked domain", is a URL without the "www" prefix. Example of a non-www website: https://mona.media/. 

www, meanwhile, is short for "World Wide Web" and is the traditional, widely used URL form. Example of a www website: https://www.mona.media/.

The biggest difference between non-www and www is not in function but in technical handling and how users perceive it. With www, a website can sort its content more easily and is better supported when you scale your business or run subpages. 

In addition, www helps reduce URL conflicts. Google may treat the www and non-www versions as two separate sites, which hurts your SEO ranking if the content is duplicated.

For businesses focused on SEO, choose between www and non-www and stay consistent. If you choose www, make sure non-www URLs redirect to www, to avoid confusing both users and search engines and to improve your SEO results.

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The role of the World Wide Web 

The World Wide Web is a global information platform that plays an important role in connecting people, sharing information and driving progress in many fields. From media and education to commerce and technology, the WWW has changed how the world works and interacts.

• Communication and information sharing: The WWW is a powerful communication tool. It lets users easily access and exchange information as text, images, audio and video, and lets individuals and organizations share messages worldwide in the shortest possible time.
• Learning and research: The WWW offers a huge store of knowledge, from study materials and research papers to e-books. Users can reach materials from anywhere, which improves learning and research and drives the growth of human knowledge.
• E-commerce: The WWW is the core platform for e-commerce, helping businesses connect with customers around the world. Online stores, advertising platforms and commercial transactions all rely on the WWW to grow and scale.
• Social networking: Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram grew out of the WWW, letting users communicate, connect and share information every day. This helps close the distance between people in different regions.
• Multimedia entertainment: The WWW offers countless entertainment options such as watching films, listening to music, playing games and reading the news. Platforms such as YouTube, Netflix and Spotify use the WWW to serve billions of users.
• Online education: The WWW has driven the growth of online education, bringing courses from leading universities to everyone. Learners are no longer limited by geography, which creates an open, global education ecosystem.
• Driving technology development: The WWW is a driving force behind technologies such as web browsers, mobile apps, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. These technologies not only serve daily life but also open new opportunities for businesses and society.

What is the difference between the internet and the WWW?

Most people mistake www for the internet. It is not. The internet is a huge system made up of networks and network infrastructure. It connects millions of computers worldwide into one system for exchanging information. 

The www, on the other hand, is a collection of websites found on the internet. Web browsers use the internet to access websites.

Information is sent across the internet using protocols. The www, meanwhile, retrieves information across the internet using the HTTP protocol.

Below is a detailed table comparing www and the internet.

How is the World Wide Web developing today?

Today, with Industry 4.0 technology constantly advancing, website content, a structured full-scope and marketing strategies all focus on optimizing for mobile devices.

Mobile devices

With mobile devices so widespread, users increasingly prefer to browse the web on their phones rather than on computers. This pushes businesses and developers to focus on optimizing their interface and content for mobile. Google introduced Mobile-Friendly Test, a tool that rates how mobile-friendly a website is, confirming how important it is to give users the best possible experience.

WWW (World Wide Web) security

Privacy and security on the World Wide Web are also getting more attention. Users commonly worry about:

• Search and browsing history
• Geographic location
• Search habits and needs

To meet security needs, web proxy services and solutions that route data through third-party servers have been developed, giving users more privacy when they browse.

Domain 

Websites today still commonly use domains and domain extensions. The ".com" domain is still the most popular and widely used. However, many newer domains are also available to register, such as ".info" and ".asia".

Web browsers 

Over the years the browser market has changed a lot. After the dominance of Internet Explorer and Firefox, Google Chrome now leads thanks to its speed and good compatibility. Safari is also a popular browser on Apple devices, serving that brand's loyal users.

Programming technologies

Web programming technologies keep improving to meet the needs of the World Wide Web's growth:

• HTML5: HTML is back at the center with strong new features and better support for multimedia content and web applications.
• HTTP/2.0: Better communication between browser and server, with lower latency and a better browsing experience.

Technologies the WWW needs in order to work

Some of the technologies needed to drive the growth of the www and keep it running include:

• HTML: HyperText Markup Language: This is the publishing language for websites. HTML can format documents and link them to other documents and resources. HTML was first used only to support text documents, but with improvements in 1990 it became able to handle frames, tables and plugins.
• HTTP – HyperText Transfer Protocol: This is the tool that lets HTML documents be transferred between browsers and web servers over the internet. It took nearly 20 years before HTTP was upgraded to version 2.0, which shows how well the protocol has met the needs of website growth.
• Web Server: A computer that stores files that can be accessed over the internet using HTTP. The original Netscape gave way to other web browser applications, but similar Client-Server protocol concepts still apply.
• URL – Uniform Resource Locators: A URL is a unique kind of "address" for each resource on a website. It can be the address of a website or of an image file.

That is everything MONA Media wanted to share about what the World Wide Web is. We hope it gives you a clearer view of when the www was created and why it matters. If you have any questions about the www, leave a comment below and the MONA Media team will answer them.