Internet Protocols in HTML

The Internet Protocols in HTML

The Internet protocols are the world’s most popular open-system (nonproprietary) protocol suite because they can be used to communicate across any set of interconnected networks and are equally well suited for LAN and WAN communications. The Internet protocols consist of a suite of communication protocols, of which the two best known are the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP). The Internet protocol suite not only includes lower-layer protocols (such as TCP and IP), but it also specifies common applications such as electronic mail, terminal emulation, and file transfer. This chapter provides a broad introduction to specifications that comprise the Internet protocols. Discussions include IP addressing and key upper-layer protocols used in the Internet. Specific routing protocols are addressed individually in Part 6, Routing Protocols. Internet protocols were first developed in the mid-1970s, when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) became interested in establishing a packet-switched network that would facilitate communication between dissimilar computer systems at research institutions. With the goal of heterogeneous connectivity in mind, DARPA funded research by Stanford University and Bolt, Beranek, and Newman (BBN). The result of this development effort was the Internet protocol suite, completed in the late 1970s. TCP/IP later was included with Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) UNIX and has since become the foundation on which the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) are based. Documentation of the Internet protocols (including new or revised protocols) and policies are specified in technical reports called Request for Comments (RFCs), which are published and then reviewed and analyzed by the Internet community. Protocol refinements are published in the new RFCs.

http/https difference

Instead of HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), this website uses HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS). Using HTTPS, the computers agree on a "code" between them, and then they scramble the messages using that "code" so that no one in between can read them. This keeps your information safe from hackers.

HTTPS means that you tunnel the HTTP protocol over TLS/SSL which encrypts the HTTP payload. So the benefit is that HTTP requests and responses are transmitted securely over the wire, e.g. your Internet Service Provider does not know what you're doing. When you interact with a website, such as trying to retrieve a webpage, data is sent back and forth between you and the web server. The S in HTTPS signals the inclusion of the "Secure Sockets Layer" - more colloquially known as "SSL" - whose function is to encrypt the data that is exchanged between you and the website.

When you connect to the website your computer will receive their SSL Certificate and checks it against the server's credentials. Your computer and the web server then figure out the best way to encrypt information, exchange special "keys" with one another, and then give it a small test drive to ensure they can properly share encrypted information. Once the two are ready to go, they each give the green light and exchange encrypted information.

Because both your computer and the website's server have to verify their identities, set up their special way of encoding/decoding that is unique to them, and always transfer information in a secure fashion many of the typical attack vectors available to hackers are rendered insignificant. They will have spent more resources in terms of computing power and time than they could hope to get back through your information, which will likely have changed over the years it would take to properly decrypt. And the method of decryption is unique to each connection.

Mind you, SSL is not infallible. "Heartbleed" showed us that were vulnerabilities in the method that existed for years, there are attack vectors that SSL is not designed to handle, and as the internet continues to get more complex new avenues will be created before SSL can be adapted to defend against them - if it'll even be used at all by then.

History-Versions

PHP is a server-side scripting language designed for web development but also used as a general-purpose programming language. As of January 2013, PHP was installed on more than 240 million websites (39% of those sampled) and 2.1 million web servers. Originally created by Rasmus Leadoff in 1994, the reference implementation of PHP (powered by the Zend Engine) is now produced by The PHP Group. While PHP originally stood for Personal Home Page, it now stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, which is a recursive acronym.

PHP code can be simply mixed with HTML code, or it can be used in combination with various templating engines and web frameworks. PHP code is usually processed by a PHP interpreter, which is usually implemented as a web server's native module or a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) executable. After the PHP code is interpreted and executed, the web server sends resulting output to its client, usually in form of a part of the generated web page For example, PHP code can generate a web page's HTML code, an image, or some other data. PHP has also evolved to include a command-line interface (CLI) capability and can be used in standalone graphical applications.

The canonical PHP interpreter, powered by the Zend Engine, is free software released under the PHP License. PHP has been widely ported and can be deployed on most web servers on almost every operating system and platform, free of charge.

Despite its popularity, no written specification or standard exists for the PHP language; instead, the canonical PHP interpreter serves as a defector standard. However, work on creating a formal specification has started in 2014.

Overview of XML and its benefits.

The first benefit of XML is that because you are writing your own markup language, you are not restricted to a limited set of tags defined by proprietary vendors. Rather than waiting for standards bodies to adopt tag set enhancements (a process which can take quite some time), or for browser companies to adopt each other's standards (yeah right!), with XML, you can create your own set of tags at your own pace. you free to develop at your own pace, but you are free to develop tools that meet your needs exactly. By defining your own tags, you create the markup language in terms of your specific problem set! Rather than relying on a generic set of tags which suits everyone's needs adequately, XML allows every person/organization to build their own tag library which suits their needs perfectly.

"From the earliest days of the Web, we've been using essentially the same set of tags in our documents....There's a significant benefit to a fixed tag set with fixed semantics: portability. However, HTML is very confining. Web designers want more control over presentation.

That is, though the majority of web designers do not need tags to format musical notation, medical formula, or architectural specifications, musicians, doctors and architects might.

XML allows each specific industry to develop its own tag sets to meet its unique needs without forcing everyone's browser to incorporate the functionality of zillions of tag sets, and without forcing the developers to settle for a generic tag set that is too generic to be useful.

Advantages of XML

The real power of XML comes from the fact that with XML, not only can you define your own set of tags, but the rules specified by those tags need not be limited to formatting rules. XML allows you to define all sorts of tags with all sorts of rules, such as tags representing business rules or tags representing data description or data relationships.

There are many advantages to using XML for information exchange, and they offer many benefits to the user. The Extensive Markup Language uses human language, which is conversable, and not the language used by computers which is binary and ASCII coded. XML is readable by even people who have had no formal introduction to XML or have been coached on it.

§  It is as easy as HTML.

§  XML is fully compatible with applications like JAVA, and it can be combined with any application which is capable of processing XML irrespective of the platform it is being used on.

§  XML is an extremely portable language to the extent that it can be used on large networks with multiple platforms like the internet, and it can be used on handhelds or palmtops or PDAs.

§  XML is an extendable language, meaning that you can create your own tags, or use the tags which have already been created.

There are other advantages of using XML.

§  It is a platform independent language.

§  It can be deployed on any network if it is amicable for usage with the application in use.

§  If the application can work along with XML, then XML can work on any platform and has no boundaries.

§  It is also vendor independent and system independent. While data is being exchanged using XML, there will be no loss of data even between systems that use totally different formats.

From a programmer’s point of view, there are a lot of parsers available like the API, C and many more. If your data is very rich, then using XML to capture the data makes a lot of sense mainly because it is in plain text and in a language that humans can read. XML also gives the freedom to define your own tags that fit your application needs. XML can also be stored in databases in XML format and human readable format. The advantages of XML include that it can be used as an instrument to share data and application models in wide networks like internet. 

Eg:- <UL>

<LI>Gunther Birznieks

<UL>

<LI>Client ID: 001

<LI>Company: Bob's Fish Store

<LI>Email: gunther@bobsfishstore.com

<LI>Phone: 662-9999

<LI>Street Address: 1234 4th St.

<LI>City: New York

<LI>State: New York

<LI>Zip: 10024

</UL>

<LI>Susan Czigany

<UL>

<LI>Client ID: 002

<LI>Company: Netscape

<LI>Email: susan@eudora.org

<LI>Phone: 555-1234

<LI>Street Address: 9876 Hazen Blvd.

<LI>City: San Jose

<LI>State: California

<LI>Zip: 90034

</UL>

</UL>

Eg:-

<CLIENT>

<NAME>Gunther Birznieks</NAME>

<ID>001</ID>

<COMPANY>Bob's Fish Store</COMPANY>

<EMAIL>gunther@bobsfishstore.com</EMAIL>

<PHONE>662-9999</PHONE>

<STREET>1234 4th St.</STREET>

<CITY>New York</CITY>

<STATE>New York</STATE>

<ZIP>Zip: 10024</ZIP>

</CLIENT>

<CLIENT>

<NAME>Susan Czigany</NAME>

<ID>002</ID>

<COMPANY>Netscape</COMPANY>

<EMAIL>susan@eudora.org</EMAIL>

<PHONE>555-1234</PHONE>

<STREET>9876 Hazen Blvd.</STREET>

<CITY>San Jose</CITY>

<STATE>California</STATE>

<ZIP>90034</ZIP>

</CLIENT>