A Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations
...as defined for Steve's COP2822 class at Valencia
Note that when you see
the letters "asdf" in this document, it means I
have more to say on the subject, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
0-9
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- 1.1
- The last recommended version of
XHTML
, released 2001.
- 2.0
- The long-anticipated next version of
XHTML
. "Working drafts" have been
released in Aug 02, Dec 02, Jan 03, May 03, Jul 04, May 05, and July 06.
- 4.01
- The last recommended version of
HTML
, "finished" in 1999.
- 404
- The "file not found" error sent from a Web server.
- 5
- The almost mythical "next version" of
HTML
. Rumored to be ready for
publication in 2020 or so.
A
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- absolute (reference)
- One of three ways to refer to a resource, the absolute
reference (as
defined by the text) always begins with a /
so the resource is called from the root of the present drive, on the
present host.
Examples:
/sandrews/cop2822/
/www_root/
/home/jjackson/mypage.html
/cgi-bin/mycgi.pl
- attribute
-
A definition of a property of an element.
See Diagram B.
B
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- backslash
- \
- 1. Used to escape the
character that follows. Compare to slash.
- 2. WINDOWS COMPUTERS ONLY: Used to seprate folder names in DOS or
Windows.
- body
- The visible portion of a Web page. The part of a Web document displayed
in the main pane of the browser window. All content
resides within the body. Compare to head.
C
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- Cascading Style Sheets
- A technology developed to allow
HTML
to follow its stated mission: to
denote what an element IS, rather than how it looks.
- class (class=)
- One of the four core attributes, class= allows an
element to belong to one or more groups of elements that share formatting
or other characteristics.
- client
- A program that requests information from a Server.
- Client-Server
- An architecture that found its pinnacle on the Internet, client-server
technology is a design concept that allows two computers to share a task,
relegating part of the job to a requesting computer (the "client") and
designating the rest to a responding computer (the "server"). When
browsing the Web, we our Web browser software acts as a client, requesting
information from another computer on the Internet. If the other computer
is running Web server software, it responds by gathering the required
parts of the requested resource and sending them to the client. It is
the client's responsibility to receive (and acknowledge receipt of) the
resource and to "render" it for the computer user.
- container tag
- A tag that's meant to contain content or other tags. Occasionally known
as a "two-sided" tag. The large majority of HTML tags are containers, such
as <p></p> or <body></body>.
Compare to empty tag.
- content
- The information presented in a Web page. Web pages are made up of
content (the information presented) and
markup (tags, etc. that define the elements of
a page).
- core attribute
- One of four attributes designed to be applied
to almost any tag.
The four core attributes are id, style, class, and title.
- CSS
- See Cascading Style Sheets.
D
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- default file
- The file a Web Server sends when the requested
resource is a folder.
The default file is chosen by its filename. Popular filenames for default
files include index.html (on most Unix servers) and default.htm (on most
Windows servers).
- deprecated
- The term applied to any tag,
attribute, or value that has been
marked for deletion from the language. According to the
w3c, future versions of XHTML will not include tags
that have been deprecated.
- directory
- The original name for a folder. This term is still
in use by old-times like me, and on most Unix systems.
E
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- element
- Everything from the an opening tag to its closing mate, inclusive.
See Diagram A.
Note: in most situations, a tag and an element are NOT the same thing.
Exception: an empty tag IS identical to its
element.
- empty tag
- One of 11 or 12 tags that have no closing mate. Also known as a
"one-sided tag", "standalone tag", or "void tag". Examples are
<br />, <img />, and <hr />. Note the
trailing slash and the space that precedes it.
- escape
- To alter the meaning or effect of a select group of characters, normally
by prepending a backslash.
F
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- FF, ff
- Firefox: a Web browser quickly growing in popoularity
- FTP
- File Transfer Protocol.
- folder
- The Windows/MacIntosh name for a directory: a
specialized type of computer file, designed to hold other files. As with
a physical file folder, a computer folder can hold files and other folders.
G
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- Google
- The only company, at present, that might be capable of wresting World
Domination from Microsoft. ;-)
H
top
- head
- The portion of a Web page designed, not for visitors, but for
agents
(search engines, servers, browsers). Compare to body.
- HTML
- Hypertext Markup Language. The base language for presenting content
on the World Wide Web. Note that HTML is a markup
language, and not a programming language.
- HTTP
- Hypretext Transfer Protocol. The protocol, or "language", used to
communicate between Web Servers and Web
Clients.
I
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- id (id=)
- One of the four core attributes, id= provides a
unique identification for an element, making it easier for
CSS and assorted scripts to target and
affect that element. An id can't be repeated within the same document,
must begin with a letter, and can't contain a space.
- IE
- Internet Explorer
- IE6
- Internet Explorer, version 6 (outdated)
- IE7
- Internet Explorer, version 7 (the current version)
- index file
- One of several default files that a Web Server might send when the requested
resource is a folder.
J
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- Javascript
- One of several scripting languages created for use
with HTML.
K
top
- .
- .
L
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- .
- .
M
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- markup
- The "code" of HTML. HTML tags, which guide the browser in laying out
(rendering) a page. Compare to content.
- markup language.
- A less-than-complex computer language designed to allow the writer to
impart structure, and sometimes layout, information to text.
Compare to programming language.
- mouse cursor
- An icon, often shaped like an arrow, that allows a computer user to
"point" to locations on the computer monitor, and to place the screen
cursor.
Compare to screen cursor.
N
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- .
- .
O
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- one-sided tag
- See Empty Tag.
P Q
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- page
- Web page. The rendered image of an HTML document. Compare to
Web site.
- pixel
- picture element: a "dot" on a computer monitor. An
indivisible area of a computer screen. Most modern computer monitors are
comprised of at least 786,432 (1024 columns x 768 rows of) pixels.
- programming language
- A complex computer language designed to allow the writer to control the
behavior of one or more computers. Modern programming languages contain
constructs to allow for execution by case: Is it before or after 12?
Is this the thousandth iteration? Has the user pressed the Q key yet?
This decision-making capability is missing from markup languages.
- publish
- (as defined within this course) To place a resource on the class Web
server in such a way that anyone with Web access can find it.
R
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- recommendation
- The "final" publication of a specification from the
W3C.
- reference
- a way to call a resource.
There are three types of reference: relative, absolute, and universal.
- resource
- Any file that can be retrieved from the Internet via a Web browser.
Resources include Web pages, images, database records, etc.
- relative (reference)
- One of three ways to refer to a resource, a relative
reference
begins with . or ..
or the name of a file or folder, so the resource is called from the same
locatation as the present page.
- render
- To convert HTML tags into the visual result of those tags. The main
job of a browser is to render an HTML file into a page.
- rule
- 1. A horizontal line on a page that serves to separate blocks of text
- 2. See Style Rule.
S
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- screen cursor
- Also "insertion point". The intended destination of input from a
keyboard.
Compare to mouse cursor.
- scripting language
- a programming language
characterized by several features:
- high-level language
- run-time (or "interpreted"), rather than compiled
- can be either a client-side language or a server-side language.
- use simple data structures (strings, arrays, etc.) and generally
do not allow for user-created data structures
- server
- 1. A software application that serves requests from appropriate clients.
By far, the most-used server applications in use
today are WWW servers, which send resources, on demand, to Web clients
(browsers).
- 2. (by extension, popular usage, laziness, and apathy) the host on which
a server resides.
- (Note that, stricly speaking, a server is not a computer. It's a
softare application housed (hosted) on the the computer.)
- sig, signature
- A <!-- comment --> that contains your name, the date, and the
purpose of the page.
- slash /
- 1. Used to designate folder
names on a Web server. Compare to backslash.
- 2. Used at the beginning of a closing tag to mark it as such.
- 3. Used at the end of an empty tag to make the tag "self-closing".
- standalone tag
- See Empty Tag
- style (style=)
- One of the four core attributes, style= allows the
formatting, via CSS, of any element of the body of
a Web page.
- style declaration
- a single CSS property and CSS value, separated by a colon, and ending
with a semicolon.
See Diagram C.
- style definition
- Also "declaration block".
See Diagram C.
- style rule
- A CSS definition, including a selector one or more declarations.
See Diagram C.
- superblock
- Either of two HTML elements that are meant to contain
block-level elements. The superblock elements are
<div></div>
and <blockquote></blockquote>
T
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- tag
- A device in HTML that marks the beginning or end of an
element. The "code" that allows a browser to
render a Web page. HTML uses < and > marks to
denote a tag: <body>
- title (title=)
- One of the four core attributes, title= creates a
"tooltip" or popup that contains the value of title=. Here is an example
of title= in practice. Allow your mouse cursor to hover over the content
of the next sentence to see the result:
<span title="See what I mean?">Hover here.</span>
- two-sided tag.
- See Container Tag
U
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- universal (reference)
- My name for a truly absolute reference, a universal reference always
begins with http:// so the resource is called from the Internet.
- URI
- Uniform Resource Indicator. Includes URLs and URNs.
- URL
- Uniform (not universal!) Resource Locator
- URN
- Uniform Resource Name
V
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- value
- The "answer" to the question posed by an attribute.
See diagram B.
- void tag
- See empty tag.
W
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- W3C
- The World Wide Web Consortium. The international agency responsible for
the growth and development of Web based languages such as
HTML,
XHTML,
CSS, etc.
- Web, WWW
- the World Wide Web, an application (a set of programs: clients and
servers) that run on the Internet.
- Web browser
- A program that requests, receives, and normally renders, resources on the World
Wide Web
- Web client
- Web Browser
- Web server
- SOFTWARE that resides on a
host
on the World Wide Web and responds to requests from Web clients
(browsers).
- Windows Explorer
- NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT THE INTERNET EXPLORER. This program helps you
find and manipulate files and folders on YOUR computer—not on the
Internet.
X Y Z
top
- XHTML
- eXtensible HTML.
Diagrams, etc.
Maybe some of this stuff will make more sense if presented
visually? |
|
Glossary |
Diagram A:
HTML
content, tags, and elements
<p> |
This is a paragraph. |
</p> |
|
<br /> |
opening
tag |
content |
closing
tag |
|
tag |
element |
|
element |
|
(no content) |
Diagram B: tag, attribute, value:
< |
p |
|
id |
= |
" |
firstCar |
" |
> |
|
< |
/ |
p |
> |
|
tag name |
|
attribute |
|
|
value |
tag |
Diagram C: CSS syntax, example, terms, and punctuation:
selector |
{ |
property |
: |
value |
; |
property |
: |
value |
; |
property |
: |
value |
; |
} |
p | { |
color | : | blue | ; |
background-color | : | yellow | ; |
border | : | dashed | ; |
} |
|
declaration |
declaration |
declaration |
|
|
definition |
rule |
{ |
opens the definition |
: |
separates a property from its value |
; |
separates declarations |
} |
closes the definition |