The World Wide Web
Backend·6 min read·Jan 1, 2025
The World Wide Web, or simply web, is a global system of information and services that allows users to share and access interconnected hypertext documents and resources over the Internet using the HTTP and HTTPS protocols.
It operates on a client-server model, where users can request and retrieve web pages and resources stored on web servers through the intermediary of clients such as web browsers.
In its entirety, the web allows users to search for information, browse websites, shop online, watch movies, participate in online communities, and pretty much anything else you can think of.
In this context, search engines play a crucial role in helping users discover and navigate the vast amount of content available on the web by indexing or organizing web pages in a relevant and easily searchable manner.
Hypertext documents
At its core, the web is composed of web pages called hypertext documents, which are pages of text written in a markup language, like the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), containing hyperlinks that users can click to navigate to other hypertext documents in a seamless and non-linear manner.
Beyond text and hyperlinks, these documents most often embed resources, such as images, videos, scripts, and other multimedia elements.
For example, this very web page contains a multitude of hyperlinks that allow you to navigate to specific sections within this document, to other web pages of this website, and even to web pages of different websites.
It also includes several images that you can see on the sidebar and footer.
The Hypertext Markup Language
The Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language for creating web pages on the World Wide Web.
It allows developers to create interactive web pages that are interpreted and rendered by web browsers in a visually appealing way, and that can be accessed and viewed across different devices and platforms.
It is often combined with styling technologies, such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for element styling (e.g. layout, color, font), and scripting languages, such as JavaScript for dynamic behavior.
It provides a set of tags enclosed in angle brackets (e.g., <div></div>, <p></p>) that define the structure, content, and layout of a web document, including text, images, links, and multimedia elements.
It also comes with semantic elements that provide meaning and structure to web documents, making them more accessible, search engine-friendly, and maintainable.
For example, the following hypertext document written in HTML:
<!DOCTYPE html><html> <head>
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