The Internet vs. The World Wide Web
Two terms people confuse constantly — here is the clean distinction.
Two different things
| The Internet | The World Wide Web |
|---|---|
| Global physical network infrastructure | A service that runs on top of the Internet |
| Routers, cables, satellites, wireless towers | System of linked pages via HTML, URLs & HTTP |
| Protocols: TCP/IP, UDP, FTP, SMTP, DNS | Technologies: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, REST APIs |
| Enables email, VoIP, gaming, IoT, streaming | Accessed through a web browser |
| Developed in the 1960s–1980s (ARPANET era) | Invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 |
Key point: the Internet is the infrastructure (roads). The Web is a service running on it (cars). Not all Internet traffic is Web — email, VoIP and gaming use the Internet but not necessarily the Web.