The Web: addressing 

documents

Lonce Wyse

Communication & New Media

lonce.wyse@cnm.nus.sg

Clients and Servers

Clients and Servers

Generally,

    Clients request,

    Servers provide

A Browser is a program that runs on clients.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

URL        

(Universal Resource Locator)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

• Scheme

• subdomain

• path

• Domain name

• Top level domain

Protocol: Conventions used for communication

Examples: http, https, ftp, file

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

• Scheme

• subdomain

• path

• Domain name

• Top level domain

Highest level in the name hierarchy.

Other examples: .com, ,net, and country abbreviations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

• Scheme

• subdomain

• path

• Domain name

• Top level domain

Purchased and registered by individuals and organizations with the Domain Name System (DNS). 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

• Scheme

• subdomain

• path

• Domain name

• Top level domain

Created and used locally by servers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

• Scheme

• subdomain

• path

• Domain name

• Top level domain

Similar to a directory path used to identify a specific document in a file system. As a content creator, you will organize your own file system that will be used by others to find your work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

• Scheme

• subdomain

• path

• Domain name

• Top level domain

URL        

Summary

• The Web depends on a network of connected machines with addressable content.
• Clients run browser programs that request information from Servers
• We learned about the anatomy of URLS 

Next up: How client browsers know what to do with documents they are served.