Absolute Beginner's Guide to Programming, Third Edition

Networking It All

The Internet is not an entity but a collection of loosely networked computers connected via phone lines and other types of connections. Instead of centralized computing, today's world requires decentralized computing with a central mainframe and attached keyboards and screens. Computers now span the globe and communicate among themselves. Computers now share processing power (called distributing the processing).

A programmer's job is made more exciting by distributed computing, but at the same time, more challenges await programmers. The online world of programming requires not only a mastery of logic and computer languages but also expertise in security and an understanding of how an application can be run across a network ...