Exam question clarification

RedXIV

Hi guys,

Hoping someone can clear this up for me. actually more gauging opinions than anything else. I'm looking at an old Network Programming exam and one of the questions is this:

With reference to using the world wide web as a development platform, identify the four basic components of the WWW environment.

I was given a set of slides to cover the course content but it's nowhere to be seen in the notes. Can anyone tell me is there an obvious answer to this i'm missing or is the question too vague?

Thanks
Red

CuLT

This sounds kinda retarded, but my guess would be the answer is:

Web Browser
HTML
Server
Client

Considering you're talking about an old network programming exam

Sully

CuLT wrote: »

This sounds kinda retarded, but my guess would be the answer is:

Web Browser
HTML
Server
Client

Considering you're talking about an old network programming exam

Odd exam question! Id be inclined to go with CuLT alright

oeb

Ok, the four basic components of any computing platform are as follows

Input
Output
Processing
Secondry Storage

It is also worth noticing that web browser and client are the same.

I would be inclined to say

Input: Web browser / E-Mail Client / RSS Reader / Whatever (Client)
Output : Markup / HTTP / ETC
Processing : PHP / CGI / ASP / Whatever
Secondry Storage : Web Server / Database / ETC

RedXIV

Thanks guys,

I think oeb got it because one of the follow up questions asks "what does "CGI" stand for and what purpose does it serve?"

i'll probably be back again soon as i'm studying for a exam and some of the questions don't make sense to me

thanks again!

Red

CuLT

oeb wrote: »

Ok, the four basic components of any computing platform are as follows

Input
Output
Processing
Secondry Storage

It is also worth noticing that web browser and client are the same.

I would be inclined to say

Input: Web browser / E-Mail Client / RSS Reader / Whatever (Client)
Output : Markup / HTTP / ETC
Processing : PHP / CGI / ASP / Whatever
Secondry Storage : Web Server / Database / ETC

Hmm, you're right, the computer/OS etc would be irrelevant within the confines of the "WWW" platform.

I would argue though that what you've assigned to "Processing" is not fundamental. A website can exist without making any use of "scripting" languages.

So, as a modification of your example I'd say:

Input: Web browser / E-Mail Client / RSS Reader / Whatever
Output: Markup - HTML / XML etc
Processing: Web Server (Apache/nginx/lighttpd)
Secondary Storage: Physical machine for client/server?

Could be wrong, been a while since I've had to do theory

oeb

CuLT wrote: »

Hmm, you're right, the computer/OS etc would be irrelevant within the confines of the "WWW" platform.

I would argue though that what you've assigned to "Processing" is not fundamental. A website can exist without making any use of "scripting" languages.

So, as a modification of your example I'd say:

Input: Web browser / E-Mail Client / RSS Reader / Whatever
Output: Markup - HTML / XML etc
Processing: Web Server (Apache/nginx/lighttpd)
Secondary Storage: Physical machine for client/server?

Could be wrong, been a while since I've had to do theory

I would disagree. Sure a website can exist without server side processing etc, but is the web being used as a development platform then? Or is it being used a delivery mechanism? That's like saying an office admin who is writing up letters in word is using word as a development platform.

p

RedXIV wrote: »

I think oeb got it because one of the follow up questions asks "what does "CGI" stand for and what purpose does it serve?"

i'll probably be back again soon as i'm studying for a exam and some of the questions don't make sense to me

Jesus, that's terrible. Sounds like you're sitting an exam that hasn't changed since 1999.

Once you're finished that exam, try to forget about 90% of what you learned.

CuLT

oeb wrote: »

I would disagree. Sure a website can exist without server side processing etc, but is the web being used as a development platform then? Or is it being used a delivery mechanism? That's like saying an office admin who is writing up letters in word is using word as a development platform.

Point taken, I am probably abstracting too much.

RedXIV

p wrote: »

Jesus, that's terrible. Sounds like you're sitting an exam that hasn't changed since 1999.

Once you're finished that exam, try to forget about 90% of what you learned.

my problem is timing, i tend to forget 90% BEFORE the exam. but nice to know this stuff i'm pretending to learn isn't important

Eoin

p wrote: »

Jesus, that's terrible. Sounds like you're sitting an exam that hasn't changed since 1999.

I can imagine question 2: "Discuss the importance of using the blink and marquee tags on a corporate web-site"

oeb wrote: »

I would disagree. Sure a website can exist without server side processing etc, but is the web being used as a development platform then? Or is it being used a delivery mechanism? That's like saying an office admin who is writing up letters in word is using word as a development platform.

Well, the question said the WWW environment, not web development.