What is the Web? - Definition from Techopedia

Web

What Does Web Mean?

The Web is the common name for the World Wide Web, a subset of the Internet consisting of the pages that can be accessed by a Web browser. Many people assume that the Web is the same as the Internet, and use these terms interchangeably. However, the term Internet actually refers to the global network of servers that makes the information sharing that happens over the Web possible. So, although the Web does make up a large portion of the Internet, but they are not one and same.

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Techopedia Explains Web

Web pages are formatted in a language called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). It this language that allows users to click through pages on the Web via links. The Web uses HTTP protocol to transmit data and share information. Browsers such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are used to access Web documents, or Web pages, which are connected via links.

The Web is just one of the ways that information is shared over the Internet; others include email, instant messaging and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.