Web Browsing Example 1

For this example we will be using Internet Explorer. Do not worry if you do not use this browser, as other browsers will be very similar.

Quick Browsing Example

Execute Internet Explorer (usually found under Programs, Internet Explorer) or from the File menu simply choose New -> Window. The latter will open up a second Web browser window, in addition to this one :) Switch back and forth between this window and the new browser window to carry out the steps in this tutorial.
In the Address text box field, of the just opened browser window, type http://www.vt.edu and hit return. This is the main web page for Virginia Tech. You should see an image somewhat similar to following appear in your web browser:
Now move your mouse over the text or images in the web page. If your cursor arrow changes to a hand, you can click there and be transported, (i.e., surf), to another web page (this is a hyperlink). When your cursor is positioned over a hyperlink, look at the status line, (i.e., bottom of the browser window). You should see the title or the location of the document to which the link refers.

The location of a Web document is specified by a Uniform Resource Locator, or URL. URLs are composed of three parts:

http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs1204/index.html

http
Access Method

The access method gives the mechanism the browser uses to communicate with other machines across the Internet. http is an abbreviation for HyperText Transfer Protocol, which is the most common type Web protocol. Similar protocols allow for file transfers, email, gopher documents, USENET news and telnet. Most browsers will assume http protocol if one omits it when entering a URL in the location field.

courses.cs.vt.edu
Domain Name

The domain name gives the Internet address of the Web server that contains the linked document. Domain names actually are made up of a specific host computer name, ('courses'), followed by multiple domain names separated by periods. A domain is a collection of networked machines, referred to or addressed by the same name. Moving left-right, each domain specifies a larger domain. The orginal high-level domains on the Internet were: .edu (education), .com (commercial), .net (network, ISP's), .org (organization, non-commercial), .gov (government) and .mil (military). Many more are being added. Non-US sites follow a similar hierarchy and end in a designation for their country, e.g., .au (australia).

/~cs1204/index.html
Filename

The filename specifies the loctation in the directory structure of the Web server of where the doucment is located. The tilde, '~', specifies that the server is to start looking in the default Web directory, (usually 'WWW' or 'public_html'), under the specified account which follows the tilde. Other directories can then follow until eventually either a filename is given or omitted. If a specific file is omitted the server returns the default Web file in the directory, (usually either 'index.html' or 'default.html'). Note that Windows Web servers end HTML documents with a '.HTM' extension.
On the VT home page, click on the "Current Students" link and then on the "Internet Access" link on the Students' page to reach a computing assistance page such as the following:

Follow the "Home" link on this page to reach the VT Computing Center webpage. Try to determine which (if any) link(s) on the VT Computing Center webpage which do not point/link to a document in the VT domain, (i.e., does not contain '.vt.' in the URL).

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