Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th edition Unit G: The Web and E-Commerce

Objectives Introduce Web technology Explore Web browsers Examine Other Web and Internet services Examine Web page features Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition 2

Objectives (continued) Use search engines Introduce e-commerce Secure e-commerce transactions Enhance Web technology Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition 3

Introducing Web Technology Internet: a communications network that transmits data Web: a collection of documents called Web pages that are accessed over the Internet and are related by using links Web page: a document that can contain text, graphics, video, and audio A Web page is an HTML document Web site: a collection of related Web pages Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition 4

Introducing Web Technology (continued) Browser (or a Web browser): software that displays Web page elements Link (or hyperlink): a navigation tool on a Web page Hypertext URL (Uniform Resource Locator): the address for a Web page Web resource: any data file that has a URL HTML document, graphic, video, sound file, etc. Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Figure G-2: How Web pages get to your computer Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Introducing Web Technology (continued) Web server: a computer that uses special software to transmit Web pages over the Internet HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol): the communications protocol used to transport data over the Web HTTP status code: indicates whether or not the browser’s request can be fulfilled “404 Not Found” message Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Exploring Web Browsers Popular browsers: Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer (IE) Mozilla Firefox Google Chrome Apple Safari (for the Mac) Tabs: a way to view more than one Web page within one browser window Favorite (or bookmark): a saved link to a Web site Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Figure G-3: Popular browsers Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Exploring Web Browsers (continued) Helper application Also called add-on, plug-in, or player Extends a browser’s ability Installing browser updates is important Web pages can be viewed on PDAs, smartphones, and other portable computing devices Web cache: stores temporary Web files Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Examining Other Web and Internet Services FTP (file transfer protocol): provides a way to transfer files from one computer to another over any TCP/IP network Podcast (or Webcast): an audio file distributed through downloads or a feed RSS: a format for feeding or syndicating content from Web sites to user’s computer Social networking: use of the Web to stay connected with family, friends, colleagues Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Bebo Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Examining Other Web and Internet Services (continued) Blog: a Web site where people can provide commentary or news on a particular subject Can also use as personal online diaries Wiki: a collaborative Web site that can be accessed and edited by anyone Wikipedia Communicating in real time: instant messaging (IM), Voice over IP Web 2.0 refers to new and innovative ways of using the Web Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Figure G-8: Wikipedia Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Examining Web Page Features HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) A set of specifications for creating HTML documents that a browser can display as a Web page HTML is a markup language HTML tags specify how the document should appear when displayed XHTML is the version after HTML 4 Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Figure G-10: A source HTML document and its Web page Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Examining Web Page Features (continued) Mailto: link Automatically opens a preaddressed email form HTML tags are used to create links to other Web documents Web page authoring tools Text editors, such as Notepad HTML conversion utility Web authoring software Online Web page authoring tools Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Using Search Engines Web search engine (or search engine) A program designed to help people locate information on the Web Contains four components: Web crawler: combs the Web to gather data that is representative of the Web pages Indexer: makes pages easy to find based on their contents Database Query processor: looks for search terms in the database and displays a list of relevant Web sites in browser Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Figure G-12: Search results Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Using Search Engines (continued) Order of Web sites in search results Depends on relevancy criteria, such as: Key word matches Link popularity Keyword stuffing: an unethical practice in which meta keywords are manipulated to gain high relevancy rankings Boolean operator (or a search operator): a word or symbol that describes a relationship between keywords AND, OR, NOT Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Introducing E-Commerce E-commerce: financial transactions conducted over a computer network B2C (business-to-consumer) e-commerce C2C (consumer-to-consumer) e-commerce B2B (business-to-business) e-commerce B2G (business-to-government) e-commerce Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Figure G-15: E-commerce shopping Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Introducing E-Commerce (continued) Online shopping cart (or online shopping bag): cyberspace version of a shopping cart Most shopping carts work by using cookies Cookie: data generated by a Web server and stored in a text file on user’s computer Users can choose to allow cookies or not Advertising on Web sites Banner ad Pop-up ad Banner and pop-up ads earn revenue based on click-through rate Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Securing E-Commerce Transactions Password security used to prevent unauthorized access A secure connection encrypts the data transmitted between a computer and a site Technologies that create secure connections include: SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) TLS (Transport Layer Security) S-HTTP (secure HTTP) Encryption: science of coding data Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Figure G-18: Identifying a secure connection Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Securing E-Commerce Transactions (continued) Ways to pay for online purchases: Submitting credit card number directly Using a third-party payment service, such as PayPal Person-to-person payment Electronic wallets One-time-use credit card numbers Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Enhancing Web Technology HTML script: a series of program instructions Allow Web pages to be interactive HTML form: used to collect user input for different types of Web sites Scripts can run on a client or a server Server-side script: scripting statements that run on a server Client-side script: scripting statements that run on user’s local computer Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Figure G-20: HTML form Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Enhancing Web Technology (continued) Java applet: an application written in the Java programming language Java applets are fairly safe ActiveX control: a compiled program that can be referenced from within an HTML document, downloaded, installed, and executed ActiveX controls include digital certificates to increase their security Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Talking Points: Regulating the Web Internet hosts a significant amount of provocative and disturbing material “Netizens”: members of the online community of the Internet Censorship advocates Free-speech supporters Cybercensorship In many countries, free speech is not a basic right conferred to all citizens “Great Firewall of China” Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition

Summary This chapter introduced: Technologies that bring the Web to user’s computer screen Tools that user’s use to view and navigate Web pages E-commerce Technologies that enhance user’s Web experience Issues regarding censorship on the Web Computer Concepts – Illustrated 8th Edition