Internet
Protocols
Have you ever wondered what the difference was between the "Internet" and the "World Wide Web"? Well, in one aspect, there is no difference. The World Wide Web (or WWW) is actually one part of the Internet. The Internet has many parts (some people refer to them as layers) called protocols. The more familiar protocols are:
- smtp (or "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol" for email)
- FTP (or "File Transfer Protocol" for .........)
- http (or "Hyper Text Transfer Protocol" for the web)
- nntp ("Network News Transfer Protocol" for newsgroups)
The http layer is the newest layer and is more popularly known as the World Wide Web. In fact, the Web is only about four years old, while the Internet at large is about 30 years old.
When you have Internet access, you have access to these protocols. Whether it's using the http layer when loading a webpage or the smtp layer for sending a friend an email, these are all parts of the Internet.
So when you hear someone say that they "saw it on the Internet", in most cases they're referring to the World Wide Web.