9781422273357

THE BIRTH OF THE INTERNET AND WEB DEVELOPMENT

As an industry, web development has existed since about 1962, although at that time only the government used web developers. The public internet, or World Wide Web (WWW), did not yet exist. The internet came about as part of a project involving the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Conceptualized in 1962 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientist J.C.R. Licklider, it was originally dubbed the ARPANET by the government. This network of computers was intended to provide a backup communication format so that if the Soviet Union attacked the US telephone system, it would be protected. Licklider conceived of a “galactic network” of computers throughout the world that could communicate one-to-one, computer to computer, with access only to chosen allies. Each computer user would be able to set the parameters by which one could access a computer. Three years later, one of Licklider’s coworkers at MIT developed packet switching, enabling the actual data transmission from computer to computer.

Tim Berners-Lee

J.C.R. Licklider

8 CAREERS WITH EARNING POTENTIAL: WEB DEVELOPER