Web Architecture Quiz

World Wide Web

• The World Wide Web originated at CERN.
• Tim Berners-Lee (TBL) was instrumental in its conception and implementation.
• TBL's initial proposal, "Information Management: A Proposal", was submitted in March 1989.
• A proposal for a HyperText Project, "WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText Project," was presented in November 1990.
• TBL created the first web server (CERN httpd) in December 1990.
• The first web browser and HTML editor (WorldWideWeb) was launched in December 1990.
• HTML (HyperText Markup Language) was created.
• HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) was developed.
• URI (Universal Resource Identifier), originally called UDI (Universal Document Identifier), was established.
• The first public website, http://info.cern.ch/, was launched August 6, 1991.

History

• Website references for comprehensive history are provided.

Idea

• The foundational concepts of the Web include: identifying resources by global identifiers (URIs), the client-server model, and hypertext markup language (HTML).

Web Architecture

• A contemporary viewpoint on the World Wide Web architecture is outlined in a W3C Recommendation from December 2004.
• Contrary to previous statements in the text the client-server model wasn't discussed in the reviewed document.

Web Architecture: Concepts (1)

• The World Wide Web is an information space where resources are identified using URIs.
• A resource is anything identifiable by a URI.
• An information resource has essential characteristics transferable in a message.
• Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) represents a global identifier within the Web's context.
• Representation describes encoding data about a resource's status.

Web Architecture: Concepts (2)

• Content negotiation involves offering multiple resource representations and selecting the most appropriate.
• Dereferencing a URI involves accessing the referenced resource.

Web Architecture: Concepts (3)

• A web agent is a person or software acting on behalf of a person, entity, or process.
• A user agent is a type of web agent, software acting on behalf of a user. (e.g., a web browser).

Architectural Bases of the Web

• Resources are identified through URIs.
• Web agents interact through standardized protocols (e.g. HTTP, HTTPS).
• Messages can incorporate data and metadata.
• The choice of protocol limits representation data formats.
• The Web itself doesn't dictate data formats.
• Interoperability requires agreement on syntax and semantics between data format users.

Standards (1)

• Standards ensure materials, products, processes, and services fulfill their purpose by providing requirements, specifications, guidelines, and characteristics for consistent use.

Standards (2)

• Standards types include de facto (common usage), de jure (mandated by regulators), and voluntary consensus (private institutions).
• Examples of standards include document formats like PDF, the QWERTY keyboard layout, international units, the internet protocol suite (TCP/IP), and various standards (HTML, CSS, etc.).
• Relevant authors and publications regarding these standards are referenced accordingly.

Open Standard (1)

• There's no universally agreed-upon definition for open standards.
• Different organizations (IEEE, ISOC, IETF, IAB, W3C) define open standards in various ways, as well as Open Standards for software (OSR).
• Available open standard information is provided.

Open Standard (2)

• An open standard is freely available for use and adoption.
• They are typically developed through a collaborative process.

Web Standards

• Various organizations (Ecma, ISO, IETF, Unicode Consortium, WHATWG, W3C) are involved in creating and maintaining web standards.
• A list of related URLs is given.

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)

• IANA coordinates code and number allocation for Internet operation.
• It manages DNS root zones and .int/.arpa domains, allocates IP addresses, and maintains registries for various internet protocols.
• IANA's function is performed today by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

• The IETF develops Internet standards, including the internet protocol suite (TCP/IP).
• Participation is open to anyone, and IETF works through working groups.
• IETF standards are disseminated through RFCs.

Request for Comments (RFC) (1)

• RFCs are technical and organizational documents for the internet.
• The RFC series began in 1969 as part of the ARPANET project.
• Steve Crocker authored the first RFC.

Request for Comments (RFC) (2)

• The RFC's are edited, printed, and indexed by the RFC Editor.
• RFCs are categorized by origin into IETF, IAB, IRTF, and Independent Submission streams.

Request for Comments (RFC) (3)

• Each RFC has a unique number (e.g. RFC 9110).
• RFCs are available as ASCII text and HTML.
• All RFCs can be found online.

Request for Comments (RFC) (4)

• Published RFCs remain unchanged.
• Errors are corrected via errata.
• Amendments can be incorporated by publishing revised RFCs.
• RFCs can supersede or update earlier ones.

Request for Comments (RFC) (5)

• An example depicting the relationship of different RFCs to one another.
• It exemplifies how various RFCs relate to each other, showing how newer or updated specifications reference older ones in a specific case - HTTP/1.1.

Request for Comments (RFC) (6)

• IETF RFCs have two important sub-series: Best Current Practices (BCPs), and Internet Standards (STDs).
• BCPs detail guidelines, processes of the IETF.
• STD indices are provided as links.

Request for Comments (RFC) (7)

• BCPs and STDs are assigned numbers within their respective subseries while also keeping their original RFC number.
• A sample showing a BCP or STD number linked to multiple RFCs is provided.

Request for Comments (RFC) (8)

• The relationships between various RFCs that superseded or updated one another are presented, and exemplified in the case of BCP 9: Internet Standards Process.

Request for Comments (RFC) (9)

• Standards track defines maturity levels of RFCs aimed at being internet standards.
• Three original maturity levels (Proposed Standard, Draft Standard, and Internet Standard) were used.
• Currently, there are two maturity levels (Proposed Standard and Internet Standard).

Request for Comments (RFC) (10)

• An Internet-Draft is a draft for informal review and feedback during development.
• It might or might not get published as a future RFC.

Request for Comments (RFC) (11)

• One or more humorous RFCs have been published nearly every year since 1989.
• Links for examples are available.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

• W3C is an international community comprised of member organizations, staff, and the public to promote open web standards.
• W3C specifications are termed "Recommendations".
• Links for further information about W3C are provided.

W3C Design Principles

• W3C is committed to web accessibility for all individuals regardless of their hardware, software etc
• The Web should be accessible on many devices.

History of the W3C

• W3C was founded at MIT in 1994.
• Tim Berners-Lee directs the W3C and is the inventor of the web.
• W3C has published over 300 recommendations since 1996.
• A URL with details on the W3C is included.

W3C: A Few Milestones (1)

• Significant milestones in W3C's work include specifications of PNG (1996), Cascading Style Sheets level 1 (1996), Extensible Markup Language (1998), and Mathematical Markup Language (1998).
• Links to document specifications are available.

W3C: A Few Milestones (2)

• W3C's notable work includes Document Object Model (1998), XSL transformations (1999), HTML 4.01 (1999), XML 1.0 (1998), XHTML 1.0 (2000), and XHTML 1.1 (2001).
• Relevant document specifications' URLs are available.

W3C: A Few Milestones (3)

• W3C's continuous work includes XML Schema (2004), CSS Level 2 revision 1 (2011), Selectors Level 3 (2011), Media Queries (2012), HTML5 (2014), and related APIs.
• Related URLs are provided.

W3C: A Few Milestones (4)

• Other significant W3C milestones from 2019–2024 include WebAssembly, Web of Things architecture, WebRTC 1.0, Media Queries Level 3, and EPUB 3.3

W3C Operation (1)

• W3C currently has 360 members globally, with a list of members provided online.
• Geographic and interest-based communities are also connected with the W3C.
• Links to the member and chapter information are included.

W3C Operation (2)

• Working groups develop various deliverables including technical reports, open-source software, and test suites.
• Working groups consist of experts from member organizations or individual expert participants.

W3C Operation (3)

• W3C operates with various working groups (43, as of September 8, 2024).
• Links for relevant working group sites are provided.

W3C Participation

• Participation in W3C activities is open to the public.
• Public participation includes reviewing specs, joining mailing lists, collaborating in groups, contributing to open-source work, translating specifications, and attending events.
• W3C participation URLs and details are included.

W3C Technical Reports

• Information on W3C technical reports is presented, along with the types of technical documents.
• The document license and copyright information are contained.

Maturity Levels of W3C Technical Reports (1)

• Working Draft (WD), Candidate Recommendation (CR), Proposed Recommendation (PR), and Recommendation (REC).
• Documents are further categorized into their maturity levels, suitable for review or deployment and/or wide adoption.

Maturity Levels of W3C Technical Reports (2)

• A recommendation may become superseded, obsolete, or rescinded.
• Superseded Recommendations are replaced by more up-to-date versions.
• Obsolete Recommendations are deemed irrelevant for wider implementation.
• Rescinded Recommendations are no longer endorsed.

Maturity Levels of W3C Technical Reports (3)

• A diagram illustrating the maturity levels of W3C technical reports (WD, CR, PR, REC).

WHATWG (1)

• WHATWG (Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group) is a community that develops standards for web browsers.
• Pronunciation guides and FAQs are available.

WHATWG (2)

• WHATWG's standards include documents like DOM, Fullscreen API, HTML, URL, WebSockets, and XMLHttpRequest.
• Relevant URLs for each standard are presented.

WHATWG (3)

• WHATWG's origins include dissatisfaction with W3C's HTML development approach.
• WHATWG's operation is guided by a steering group including key companies.
• Public participation is encouraged in WHATWG activities.
• A link relating to WHATWG participation is included.

WHATWG (4)

• WHATWG's development model uses "Living Standards", which are continuously updated.
• Living standards are licensed under the Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0) license.
• WHATWG's intellectual property details are available.

Size of the Web

• The number of indexed web pages exceeds 4 billion.
• The number of websites exceeds 1 billion.
• Relevant URLs for this information are provided.

Wayback Machine (1)

• Wayback Machine archives web pages for revisiting in the future.
• Established in 1996 as part of a larger project, Internet Archive.
• The archive holds data for over 150+ billion web captures spanning numerous domains.

Wayback Machine (2)

• The Wayback Machine gathers publicly available webpages.
• Forms, JavaScript elements, etc. requiring host interactions are not retained in the archive.

Wayback Machine (3)

• The Wayback Machine preserves snapshots of web pages (e.g., https://www.w3.org/) taken at specific times.
• Links are provided to examples of archived snapshots.

Wayback Machine (4)

• The Wayback Machine offers a "Save Page Now" feature.
• The "Save Page Now" feature archives a specific webpage.