TheWebasagiantserver
TheWebisactuallyonegiantclient/serversystem.It’sabitworsethanthat,sinceyouhavealltheserversandclientscoexistingonasinglenetworkatonce.Youdon’tneedtoknowthat,becauseallyoucareaboutisconnectingtoandinteractingwithoneserveratatime(eventhoughyoumightbehoppingaroundtheworldinyoursearchforthecorrectserver).Initiallyitwasasimpleone-wayprocess.Youmadearequestofaserverandithandedyouafile,whichyourmachine’sbrowsersoftware(i.e.,theclient)wouldinterpretbyformattingontoyourlocalmachine.Butinshortorderpeoplebeganwantingtodomorethanjustdeliverpagesfromaserver.Theywantedfullclient/servercapabilitysothattheclientcouldfeedinformationbacktotheserver,forexample,tododatabaselookupsontheserver,toaddnewinformationtotheserver,ortoplaceanorder(whichrequiredmoresecuritythantheoriginalsystemsoffered).Thesearethechangeswe’vebeenseeinginthedevelopmentoftheWeb.TheWebbrowserwasabigstepforward:theconceptthatonepieceofinformationcouldbedisplayedonanytypeofcomputerwithoutchange.However,browserswerestillratherprimitiveandrapidlyboggeddownbythedemandsplacedonthem.Theyweren’tparticularlyinteractive,andte