History

What became the Web began as an attempt to network and link computer networks in various universities around the world.

In 1989, Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web as we know it. He envisioned it as a way for universities to easily share information and data.

By 1990 he had written about three fundamental technologies that helped shape the evolution of the Web as we know it:

HTML: 

Hypertext Markup Language. A markup (formatting) language for the web.

URI: 

Uniform Resource Identifier. A type of "address" that is unique and used to identify each resource on the web. It is also commonly referred to as URL.

HTTP: 

Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

Web 1.0

The beginning of the web is often referred to today as web 1.0.

This refers to the era of the 90s when the web was just static pages, with links between them. Interactivity was limited, pages didn't do anything, they just showed information to visitors, just like print media does today.

During this period the basic functionality of the website was provided with static pages, hyperlinks (links to other pages) and... that was about it.

Amazon original website

Technologies

Web 1.0 relied heavily on simple HTML markup, with limited interactivity provided by server-side PHP scripting.

Web 2.0

What we now call 'Web 2.0' began to rear its head in the early 2000s. Websites began to emphasize user-generated content and ease of use. Examples of primary Web 2.0 interactions and uses are blogging, leaving comments, tagging, and liking pages.

The idea behind Web 2.0 was that existing content could be added to or improved by allowing user contributions, and users could also create content that would be of interest to other people. This was the advent of 'the network as a platform' - websites were no longer mere portals where a select few published content for the world to read, they were platforms where people exchanged information and content. And could exchange.

Technologies

In terms of technologies, Web 2.0 relied heavily on interactive technologies:

PHP or Perl to manage user-generated content on the server side

Flash and later HTML5 for user interaction

JavaScript and more recently Ajax for the necessary real-time information and interaction.

The Wikipedia article on Web 2.0 has lots of great examples that really illustrate the difference between Web 1.0 and 2.0. I suggest you read this article.

Web 3.0

So what is Web 3.0? Most experts would agree that we're not really into Web 3.0 yet. Rather, we are currently seeing some websites moving towards more Web 3.0 models.

Defining what we mean by Web 3.0 can be difficult, as it defines the direction

Artificial intelligence

It's clear that artificial intelligence will be one of the 'next big things' in the web.

Google Photos launched its 'Intelligent Search' last year, demonstrating the simplicity possible using machine learning AI. Try searching for 'bridge' in your Google Photos library, and you'll see images of bridges from your photos:

Google Images searches for bridges.

Another potential trend that will grow in Web 3.0 is the use of artificial intelligence, increasing targeted advertising based on your social media accounts and purchase history.

Virtual reality

Another possible direction that Web 3.0 could take is virtual reality. More and more websites are popping up with 360˚ experiences and the W3C WebVR standard is growing rapidly.

Technologies

Web 3.0 technologies include the use of many HTML5 components such as:z

Video and audio players

In Browser 3D with WebGL

Virtual Reality with WebVR

Animations and interactions with Canvas and SVG

The use of machine learning and AI on the server side often translates into the use of big data systems, with languages ​​such as Java.

What is a website?

Now that we have roughly understood what the 'World Wide Web' is, it's time to take a look at the components that make it up, namely websites.

A website, in very simple terms, is a collection of files and code, hosted on one's server. Websites come in all shapes and sizes, and I'm sure you all use tens or hundreds of websites every day.

Big websites like Amazon, Google or Facebook are huge infrastructures of hundreds of servers connected together, but the simplest websites are just one server, with a few files on it. These large scales of the web are what we call 'web platforms'. You may also be familiar with some 'web apps', applications like Google Docs that allow us to perform useful functions right in the browser.

For the purposes of our course, we will focus on smaller websites, such as a website showcasing a small or medium-sized business or a blog.