Have you ever asked youself what those abbreviations such as TCP, IP, ISP, DHCP, DNS or ASCII stand for? I realize that more advanced users will know what they all mean and represent, but beginners might want to read on and get this question answered.

I listed terms that you will likely come across on the Internet and tried to explain it in my own words, or with the help from Wikipedia. Here are the most basic ones:

URL: Uniform Resource Locator – An Internet address, such as www.pcmemoirs.com

ISP: Internet Service Provider – The company which gives you access to the Internet.

TCP: Transmission Control Protocol – Transport layer protocol that is one of the core protocols of the Internet protocol suite. TCP operates at a higher level, concerned only with the two end systems, for example a Web browser and a Web server. TCP is also used for email and file transfer.

IP: Internet Protocol - IP handles lower-level transmissions from computer to computer. An IP address is your computer’s ID on the Internet – to see yours, visit www.whatismyip.com.

HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol – An application-level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. Its use for retrieving inter-linked resources led to the establishment of the World Wide Web.

HTML: Hypertext Markup Language – The predominant markup (programming) language for web pages.

XML: Extensible Markup Language – A general-purpose specification for creating custom markup languages which specifies lexical grammar and parsing requirements.

LAN: Local Area Network – A network of computers connected together (physically, with a cable, or through wireless connection) in a home or office.

WAN: Wide Area Network – Computers on a network that are linked together through an Internet connection (not limited to one physical location).

DNS: Domain Name Service – A hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource participating in the Internet. For example the domain name of this blog is pcmemoirs.com

DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol – A network application protocol used by devices (DHCP clients) to obtain configuration information for operation in an Internet Protocol network. This protocol reduces system administration workload, allowing devices to be added to the network with little or no manual intervention.

USB: Universal System Bus – A type of connection used to connect your PC with external devices, such as hard drives, CD/DVD drives, mice and keyboards, modems and wireless devices.

DSL: Digital Subscriber Line – One of the systems used for broadband Internet through (there is also cable, wireless, satellite…). ADSL = Asymmetrical DSL, which means download and upload speed are not the same,  and SDSL = Symmetrical DSL, where upload and download speed are the same.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol – A way for you to upload (send) files to a destination on the Internet, for examples to a Web site or email address.

BLOG: Short for Web log – This is like a diary on the Internet. People write interesting topics daily for others to read. No web design skills are necessary to start a blog.

ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange - A character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that work with text.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions – A list or database of commonly asked questions from previous visitors on a Web site.

GIF: A popular format for pictures used on Web sites.

JPEG or JPG: Another popular format for pictures.

Linux: Open Source (free) operating system – Windows’ rival system.

Cookie: Small text file that is stored in your PC by the browser every time you visit a Web site. Cookies collect information about your surfing preferences and can be used to track you. Some Web sites must install cookies to display properly and others are seen as spyware because of their ability ot track users.

RSS (feed): Really Simple Syndication – Family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.