CS 10 Homework 1

Due by the beginning of class Tuesday, January 28

If you haven't already done so, please write a short paragraph about yourself and email it to me as soon as possible. Please tell me the following information (and anything else you would like me to know).
- Why are you taking CS 10?
- Is there anything you would especially like us to focus on this semester?
- How much computer experience (if any) do you have?
- How comfortable are you using Windows?
- Have you ever done any programming? If so, how much and in which language(s)?
- What is your preferred email address?

Read the excerpt from Fire in the Valley which was handed out in class.
Read Weaving the Web Chapters 1 through 4 and write a one or two page response. I will post everyone's reactions on the CS 10 web page so that you can see what your classmates had to say.

Here are some questions to keep in mind as you read. You don't necessarily have to address all of them in your written comments, although you can if you like, but you should think about them and be ready to discuss them in class.
- How does the Web differ from other major communications inventions such as the telegraph, the telephone, radio, and television? How do you think the Web rates (or ultimately will turn out to rate) in terms of significance, compared to these other inventions? Why?
- What were the key ideas or technologies that paved the way for the development of the Web (aside from the obvious development of computers)?
- What role, if any, do you think the CERN environment played in helping to shape the early development and vision of the Web? How likely do you think it is that the Web could have originated in a less academically-oriented environment, such as a corporate research lab?
- What were the key characteristics of the Web's design that led to its phenomenal growth and success?
- What is the difference between the Web and the Internet?
- What is the main difference between the popular browsers available today (such as Netscape or Internet Explorer) and Tim Berners-Lee's original Web browser?
- What were the principal factors that guided the design of the original HTML language?
- What aspects of the Web's early history do you find the most interesting or surprising?

Turning in your homework

Write up your reactions from Part 3 as either a plain text file (preferred), or a Microsoft Word file. Email it to me as an attachment with the subject line Your name HW 1. You do not need to turn in a hardcopy printout.