Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual

Chapter 1. Preparing for the Web

The Web’s an exciting place. Every day, it chews through millions of financial transactions, serves up late-breaking news and scandalous rumors, and provides a thriving meeting place for every type of community, from political anarchists to Beanie Baby collectors.

Since you’re reading this book, you’ve probably decided to move in and join the Web. Congratulations! Just as you need to prepare when it’s time to find a home in the real world, you’ll also need to undertake some basic planning before you can make the move to your new online neighborhood. In this chapter, you’ll get a good look at the Web and what it takes to establish your own Web site. You’ll also learn how the Web really works (behind the scenes), and what ingredients you need to build your site.

Introducing the World Wide Web

Although it doesn’t show its age, the Internet is older than you might think. The computer visionaries who created the Internet began developing the idea in the early 1960s. In 1969, the first transmission over the Internet took place, between a computer at the University of California at Los Angeles and one at the Stanford Research Institute. As far as pioneering moments go, it wasn’t much to brag about—the computer crashed when it reached the G in the word “LOGIN.” Still, the revolution was underway.

The early Internet was mostly traveled by academic and government types. It flourished as a tool for research and collaboration, allowing scientists everywhere to share ...