Both internet and www are known to be crucially important elements of today’s technological world. Internet and www are the two terms generally used by folks interchangeably. However, the use of the two as synonyms of each other is not correct as various differentiating factors exist between them. The significant difference between the internet and www is that the internet is a physical network formed of various networks globally. As against, www is one of the services offered by the internet that has a collection of information.
Nowadays it is impossible to even imagine a world without the internet and we all are familiar with the reason for the same. The Internet has made things possible to humans in various aspects as it offers services like online gaming, internet telephony, chatting, file sharing, electronic mails, etc. and other than these www i.e., world wide web sometimes simply known as the web is one of the major services offered by the internet.
Internet helps in connecting various users located geographically apart and the users can use the services offered by the internet. The worldwide web is quite a famous service of internet thus sometimes people get confused between the two and use them interchangeably.
Here we will see how one can differentiate the internet from the worldwide web under various parameters.
Content: Internet Vs www
Comparison chart
| Basis for Comparison | Internet | www |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | It is a physical infrastructure. | It is a service. |
| Defined as | A huge network which is a collection of several networks. | A set of software services that operate on the internet. |
| Invention | Late 1960s | 1989 |
| Nature | Hardware based | Software oriented |
| Protocol used | Internet Protocol | HyperText Transfer Protocol |
| Identification | Through IP address | Through url |
| 1st Version | ARPANET | NSFNET |
| Dependency | Independent existence | Existence depends of the internet. |
| Users/ Websites | 3.5 billion users | 1.6 to 1.9 billion websites |
| Accessibility | Through various softwares. | Through internet browser. |
Definition of Internet
Internet sometimes called the ‘Net’ is a complex network of several networks offering global connections through satellites, microwave devices, etc. Internet is of decentralized nature representing that no particular organization controls it rather a group of voluntary organizations has decided certain set of rules termed as a protocol in order to facilitate communication over the internet.
The various services offered by the internet are as follows:
- Mobile applications
- Electronic mailing
- File sharing
- World Wide Web
- Online games
The Internet offers a collection of billions of devices that can communicate through a common platform. In common terms connecting any device to the internet is called being online. It is regarded as a public and self-sustaining mode that millions of people can access from all over the world.
Definition of www
WWW is an acronym used for the world wide web and it is sometimes simply known as the web. It collectively represents various websites accessible through the internet. Thus, in simplest terminology, it is the information retrieval service of the internet. Through the web, the documents get distributed in a standardized manner across the internet.
Basically, the web pages correspond to the electronic pages appearing on the internet and show the documented representation. A collection of several web pages form a website and to write a webpage HyperText Markup Language is used. According to the user’s input, the web pages display information.
Various web browsing software like Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox, etc. are the ones through which the web is viewed. Hence is sometimes called distributed information system. All the information within the web is connected through hyperlinks. Any website on the web represents its respective address showcasing its location. This means that every page has its associated address and this address is known as a URL.
Key Differences Between Internet and www
- Internet and web are the two different terminologies whose interchangeable use is inappropriate. Internet is known to be the global connection of millions of computers thereby forming a physical infrastructure. On the contrary, www is an application that offers a collection of information that users access through the internet.
- As the whole internet is a collection of various networks and to work altogether they must follow some specific set of rules that are known as internet protocol. Thus, the way the internet allows the flow of information over the network depends upon the internet protocol. While as www is known to be a part of the internet thus it must have its own set of rules that the various pages must follow. So, the transmission of data occurs through HyperText Transfer Protocol in the case of world wide web.
- As the internet corresponds to the physical connection of various distinct devices thus it possesses an infrastructure and hence internet is known to be hardware-based. WWW is a service offered by the internet and thus is a software technology that provides information in the form of text, audio, video, graphics, etc.
- The internet is responsible for interconnecting devices while the www is responsible for linking various pieces of data through electronic connections.
- The internet offers decentralized architecture where each individual device operates independent of the other ones however, all operate under the same protocol. On the web the pages containing information that exists in a somewhat centralized manner and can be accessed from any part of the world anytime with proper internet connectivity.
- Internet was originally found in the year 1969 however, the TCP/IP protocol on which the whole operation of the internet is based was proposed in 1980 by Cerf and Kahn thus, the internet officially got popular in 1983. The web service of the internet i.e., www was proposed by Tim Berners-Lee in the year 1989.
- For identification purposes, an IP address is used in the case of the internet whereas for the same in the case of www, URL i.e., uniform resource locator is used.
- The internet does not show dependency on www as it mainly relies on the devices that are being connected within the network. While www being a service of internet solely depends on it.
Conclusion
Thus, from this discussion, we can conclude that through internet web is accessed which displays pages on the screen of the device within a global coverage region. So, we can say, the internet connects devices while the web connects people.