by
Mark Ollig
This
week we remember a historic milestone.
The
spark which ignited what is today known as the “Web” began on March 12, 1989.
For
it was on this date, when Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist working in
Switzerland’s European Organization for Nuclear Research, otherwise known as
CERN, delivered what, according to his supervisor, was a “vague but exciting”
proposal.
This
proposal described developing a distributed information management system for the
CERN laboratory.
Berners-Lee
wrote about a client/server computing model for a distributed hypertext system.
A
computer with an installed client software program would allow a user to
effortlessly browse information stored in remotely located, hypertexted,
computing servers on CERN’s network.
His
proposed model is what led to the merging of hypertext with the Internet.
Berners-Lee
called his creation a “global hypertext system.”
He
suggested a global hypertext “space” be created in which any network-accessible
information could be referred to by what he called a Universal Document
Identifier (UDI).
Today,
it is known as the Uniform Resource Locator or URL, which we type, or paste
into a web browser, in order to access a particular resource or website.
Berners-Lee
finished coding the new client web-browser software he called the “WorldWideWeb
Program” in 1990. It was later renamed “Nexus.”
He
used a work station computer called a NeXT (NeXTcube), to write the code for
the first web browser.
The
NeXT computer was from a company founded by Apple’s Steve Jobs and other folks,
who had worked on Apple’s Macintosh and Lisa computers.
Early
web browsers had names like Erwise, Viola, Cello, and Mosaic.
Berners-Lee
also wrote the web server program using the NeXTcube.
This
computer was the first web server.
Here
is a photograph of the NeXTcube as it was displayed in 2005 at CERN’s Microcosm
science museum: http://tinyurl.com/bytes-lee3.
A
copy of: “Information Management: A Proposal,” which was the document
Berners-Lee submitted to CERN, and which eventually led to the World Wide Web,
is to the left of the keyboard in the photograph.
I
smiled while noticing the faded sticker Berners-Lee most likely attached to the
front of the NeXTcube’s tower case, saying: “This machine is a server. DO NOT
POWER DOWN!!”
This
caution sticker took me back to the day when I used them at work.
It
sometimes took hours to run the Reflection program script files I would code
using a Text Pad editor.
The
lines of text, or “tuples” I created in it were for adding hundreds, and sometimes
thousands of numbers, or other specific, call-processing related information,
into various software tables contained inside the digital telephone switches I
maintained.
It
was very important not to touch any of the keys on the keyboard, so as not to
interrupt the script file program actively running while connected (via telnet)
to the digital switch.
While
these automated script files were dumping information into a particular digital
switch, I had time to leave my workstation, and grab a cup a coffee.
As
a precaution, yours truly would tape a piece of paper over his computer screen,
warning others with the words: “Do Not Touch Keyboard! Executing Script File in
Progress!”
By
December of 1989, Berners-Lee had completed the world’s first webpage. Here is
a screen capture of “Tim’s Home Page”: http://tinyurl.com/bytes-lee1.
Some
people still think the Internet and the Web are the same; however, this is not
true.
The
Internet is a type of mesh topology network, which includes computers, routers,
gateways, and cables used to carry (transmit/receive) logical packets of voice,
video, and data information.
Think
of a packet like the contents of an envelope with a mailing address on it.
If
you put the right address on a packet, and hand it off to a device connected on
the Internet network, the programming inside the device (a router or server for
example) will determine the best path to use to get the packet to its final
destination.
The
Internet quickly delivers packets over its network to anywhere in the world
using TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).
This
is yours truly’s condensed description of how the Internet performs.
Tim
Berners-Lee created a hyper-texting program which would link the information
contained inside webpages stored on computers connected to the Internet, and
make them simple to access, clearly discernible, and easily distributable to
others.
Berners-Lee
realized his distributed information management system concept proposal for
CERN, could also be implemented throughout the world; thus creating a
World-Wide Web.
His
proposal’s conclusion from 1989 includes; “We should work toward a universal linked
information system.”
The
front page of Berners-Lee’s proposal is here:
http://tinyurl.com/bytes-proposal.
You
can see his detailed proposal at: http://tinyurl.com/bytes-cern2.
And
so I end this week’s column by saying, “Happy 25th birthday to the World Wide
Web, and thank you to Sir Tim Berners-Lee.”
We
can only imagine how far the Web will progress during the next 25 years.
