Web Applications

Learning objectives

Explain the following terms: the World Wide Web (WWW), the internet, Uniform Resource Locator (URL), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Internet Protocol (IP) address, web browser, web server, web hosting, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), internet service provider (ISP), search engine, cache, cookies, portal, website and web page;
Explain how domain names are organised;
Describe the role of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in agreeing web standards;
Evaluate the use of an intranet by an organisation;

Exam Top tips

These terms are a max of 2 or 3 marks per question. Learn the mark scheme answers where available. If you want to learn further information look at CCEA Fact File.

Explain the following terms: the World Wide Web (WWW), the internet, Uniform Resource Locator (URL), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Internet Protocol (IP) address, web browser, web server, web hosting, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), internet service provider (ISP), search engine, cache, cookies, portal, website and web page;

Explain how domain names are organised;

This has never been asked before. Make sure to learn this incase it would come up.

Describe the role of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in agreeing web standards;

Both of these standards have only been asked once - 3 marks max. The mark scheme answer is sufficient to learn, if you want further information refer to the CCEA Fact File.

Evaluate the use of an intranet by an organisation;

Has only been asked once - 6 mark question. Intranet has also been asked in the context of comparing it to the Internet term 2 marks for each explaination.

WorLd Wide Web (WWW)

An application which runs on the Internet
… consisiting of a number of websites/webpages/hypertext documents.

CCEA 2024 Q5 a [2 marks]

An application which runs on the Internet
Provides users with a multimedia service
Uses HTML and hyperlinks
http is commonly used (2 × [1])

CCEA 2022 Q5a [2 marks]

Exam tip has been asked twice.

Internet

A global network
... of networks 2 × [1]

CCEA 2024 Q5 a [2 marks]

The Internet is a global network/communications system
... which can be used by anyone/any device with broadband access.

CCEA 2017 Q5 a [2 marks]

Intranet

An intranet is a private/closed/restricted network
... accessible only by an organisation's staff/provides resources for an organisation's staff

CCEA 2017 Q5 a

Uniform Resource locator (URL)

Identifies the address
… of a resource on the Internet
… usually a file ([1] + [1])

CCEA 2019 Q5 a [2 marks]

Exam tip: has been asked twice. (Same answer in 2018 paper).

Hypertext Transfer protocol (HTTP)

A protocol/set of rules which defines/specifies
... how data is transferred over the Internet (2 × [1])

CCEA 2018 Q5 a [2 marks]

internet protocol address (IP)

Identifies the location
… of a device/computer on the Internet/on a network.
It can be static/dynamic ([1] + [1])

CCEA 2019 Q5 a [2 marks]

You don't have to learn this diagram, it is just to help your understanding.

web broswer

Allows users to use/view web pages.
Usually in HTML format
Provides navigation/search engine/favourites/history/bookmarks (2 × [1])

CCEA 2022 Q5a [2 marks]

You don't have to learn this diagram, it is just to help your understanding.

web server

Delivers webpages across the Internet/within an Intranet Contains application software to transmit content
… and makes use of client-server technology.
It processes requests for information.
It returns a cache of web pages
… which are stored on the client for faster access (3 x [1])

CCEA 2023 6a [3 marks]

Provides/delivers web pages/web resources

... in response to requests from web users (2 × [1])

CCEA 2018 Q 5 a [2 marks]

Exam tip: has been asked twice.

You don't have to learn this diagram, it is just to help your understanding.

web hosting

Supports a website [1]
Provides access to a web server [1]
and web space [1]

CCEA 2021 Q5a [3 marks]

You don't have to learn this diagram, it is just to help your understanding.

file transfer protocol (FTP)

Exam tip: NEVER BEEN ASKED - the points below have been taken from the CCEA Fact File.

File transfer protocol – is the most common protocol.
Used to transfer files across the Internet between client and server devices.

You don't have to learn this diagram, it is just to help your understanding.

Internet service provider (ISP)

Provides access to web servers
… a connection to Internet search engines.
Provides bandwidth options/email/security features/web hosting/filtering/digital phone or TV (3 x [1])

CCEA 2023 6a [3 marks]

You don't have to learn this diagram, it is just to help your understanding.

search engine

Exam tip: NEVER BEEN ASKED - the points below have been taken from the CCEA Fact File.

A search engine is a web-based tool that searches for information using keywords or criteria.
The search engine will return results as website links based on the criteria provided.
Some search engines use a spider or webcrawler. This programme ‘crawls’ through the web and constructs an index of pages. When a user wants to search for a topic using the Internet, the index of topics, made by the webcrawler, is used. The webcrawler ensures that the index is up to date.
Different search engines will search different servers to construct the index. This is why a search on Google may give different results to a search on Firefox.
Meta tags can be used to specify key words in the heading of the HTML page. These words help search engines to categorise pages and decide whether or not to include them in the results for a particular search.

cache

(Browser)

Exam tip: NEVER BEEN ASKED - the points below have been taken from the CCEA Fact File.

In the context of web applications, cache or temporary internet files allow browsers to download website images, data and documents for faster viewing in the future.
A local copy of the information is kept.
This means that the browser will be able to load at least some information from each page you have visited without downloading that information again from the server.
This can decrease the time it takes to load a webpage.

You don't have to learn these diagrams, it is just to help your understanding.

cookies

A small file [1]
downloaded from a website [1]
stores previous activities/preferences/or example [1]

CCEA 2021 Q5a [3 marks]

You don't have to learn this diagram, it is just to help your understanding.

portal

A website [1]
acting as the main entry point [1]
for a group of web services [1]

CCEA 2021 Q5a [3 marks]

You don't have to learn this diagram, it is just to help your understanding.

website

Exam tip: NEVER BEEN ASKED - the points below have been taken from the CCEA Fact File.

A website is a collection of HTML pages
....linked together on the world wide web.

web page

Exam tip: NEVER BEEN ASKED - the points below have been taken from the CCEA Fact File.

A page of information stored on the world wide web. Features of these pages are:
- written using the programming language HTML
- viewed using a web browser
- contain HYPERTEXT which provides the user with clickable links to other pages on the web.
- can contain sound, video, animation, graphics and hypertext as well as simple text

Explain how domains are organised

CCEA Fact File

Learn this diagram so you know how to label a URL if this type of question came up.

Describe the role of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in agreeing web standards.

ITU

A United Nations agency
... responsible for web telecommunication standards.
Allocates radio spectrum/satellite orbits.
Aims to improve global interconnectivity (3 × [1])

CCEA 2018 Q5 b [3 marks]

W3C

The W3C develops/regulates standards
... of the World Wide Web
Example: languages for web page design
... such as HTML/CSS (4 × [1])

CCEA 2017 Q5 b [4 marks]

Evaluate the use of an intranet by an organisation

An intranet is a network communication system based on TCP/IP protocol which belongs to a company or organisation. An intranet can only be accessed by authorised members of the organisation. It can be limited to a local area network (LAN) or can be accessed from a remote location over the Internet, possibly using a virtual private network, where a username and password is required.

The main functions of an intranet are to:

provide tools which facilitate collaboration and communication between employees. For example, project management software, calendars, timelines, email;
enable file exchange and upload;
allow messages to be broadcast across the company;
provide information and learning opportunities for employees and so enhance employee engagement;
provide search functionality so that the relevant and most up-to-date information is available for decision making.

Intranets are becoming more sophisticated and their role and function within organisations is expanding. In the past an intranet was used for delivering content and some communication. Collaboration and activity is now the focus of a modern company intranet. On-line applications are provided within the intranet for use by employees for example, online forms, application forms, collaborative tools. This means that employees will use the intranet to complete part of their normal day to day work. The intranet has moved from being an ‘add-on’ to being an integrated part of the work flow within an organisation.

CCEA FACT FILE

CCEA 2024 Q5 b [6 marks]

AS2 Web Applications.pptx

Past Paper Questions

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