Ramsier-definition

Web 2.0 is the second step in the evolution of the Internet or World Wide Web. The main thrust is to take computing, applications, and interaction with both out of the limitations of an individual computer with locally installed software that presents or receives information over a network to a cloud-based platform that connects users across the Internet that supports collaboration on software that is housed on a remote server. The user no longer installs software applications (other than a web browser and required add-ons for functionality) on the local computer. Instead, the locally installed web browser uses a high speed Internet connection to access any software needed to perform a task. At the same time, the user is able to collaborate with others accessing the same software in a much more interactive experience. In Web 1.0, either a publisher made information available online or a user searched and found the information. In Web 2.0, the process may start here, but the user has the ability to add or edit the information and the publisher can interact more dynamically with the user via blogs, wikis, chats (text or video), etc. The greatest revolution in software production is the end of the software release cycle. Instead of a software publisher collecting and fixing software bugs and creating new features, then releasing a new version of the software on a regular schedule, the web 2.0 model is to update the software on an ongoing basis that requires little or no user interaction and, for the most part, no additional cost to the user. As second trend in software is a move away from increasingly complex software code to a much simpler and lightweight product. Also, Web 2.0 software is largely open source rather than proprietary, so savvy users are able to take the code and content to refine it or create something new. Finally, a significant result of Web 2.0 applications is to move away from OS-dependent software to applications that run on any operating system—all that is required is a compatible browser. Google is a company that exemplifies software production for Web 2.0. It uses a cluster of technologies dubbed Ajax by Jesse James Garrett. The tools collectively called Ajax are XHTML and CSS which provide standards-based presentation, the Document Object Model which allows dynamic display and interactivity, XML and XSLT for data interchange and manipulation, XMLHttpRequest for asynchronous data retrieval, and JavaScript to bind the above elements together. What is Web 2.0? [] Web 2.0 []
 * Web 2.0 defined**
 * Sources**

Glossary
 * Ajax: ** A contraction of the terms [|asynchronous] [|JavaScript] and [|XML], Ajax is a group of interrelated [|web development] techniques used on the [|client-side] to create interactive [|web applications]. With Ajax, [|web applications] can retrieve data from the [|server] asynchronously in the background without interfering with the display and behavior of the existing page. The use of Ajax techniques has led to an increase in interactive or dynamic interfaces on web pages. Data is usually retrieved using the [|//XMLHttpRequest//] [|object]. Despite the name, the use of [|JavaScript] and [|XML] is not actually required, nor do the requests need to be [|asynchronous]. ([]

** Application Programming Interface (API): **   An [|interface] implemented by a [|software program] to enable interaction with other software, much in the same way that a [|user interface] facilitates interaction between humans and computers. APIs are implemented by [|applications], [|libraries] and [|operating systems] to determine the vocabulary and [|calling conventions] the [|programmer] should employ to use their services. It may include specifications for [|routines], [|data structures], [|object classes] and [|protocols] used to communicate between the consumer and implementer of the API. An API can be: For example, a website that allows users to review local restaurants is able to layer their reviews over maps taken from Google Maps, because Google Maps has an API that allows it. Google Maps' API controls what information a third-party site can grab, and what can be done with it. ([])
 * generic, the full set of API that are bundled in the libraries of a programming language (e.g. the [|Standard Template Library] in C++ or the [|Java API])
 * specific, meant to address a specific problem, like the [|Google MAPs API] or the [|Java API for XML Web Services].
 * Language-dependent, available only in a given programming language. It is only available by using the syntax and elements of that language to make the API convenient to use in this context.
 * Language-independent, written in a way that means it can be called from several programming languages. This is a desired feature for a [|service-oriented] API that is not bound to a specific process or system and may be provided as [|remote procedure calls] or [|web services].

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): ** A [|style sheet language] used to describe the [|presentation semantics] (that is, the look and formatting) of a document written in a [|markup language]. Its most common application is to style [|web pages] written in [|HTML] and [|XHTML], but the language can be applied to any kind of [|XML] document, including [|SVG] and [|XUL]. CSS is designed primarily to enable the separation of document content (written in HTML or a similar markup language) from document presentation, including elements such as the [|layout], [|colors], and [|fonts]. This separation can improve content [|accessibility], provide more flexibility and control in the specification of presentation characteristics, enable multiple pages to share formatting, and reduce complexity and repetition in the structural content (such as by allowing for [|tableless web design]). CSS can also allow the same markup page to be presented in different styles for different rendering methods, such as on-screen, in print, by voice (when read out by a speech-based browser or [|screen reader]) and on [|Braille]-based, [|tactile] devices. While the author of a document typically links that document to a CSS style sheet, readers can use a different style sheet, perhaps one on their own computer, to override the one the author has specified. ([])
 * Blog:** A contraction of the word “web log,” a blog is a site where a user can record a series of commentaries on a topic of interest. In the last century this would have been a paper journal of the writer’s personal thoughts and impressions; a blog makes this content public and puts it in an environment where other users are invited to comment and extend the discussion to be shared with all users of the blog. ([])
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Long Tail: ** A retailing concept describing the niche strategy of selling a large number of unique items in relatively small quantities – usually in addition to selling fewer popular items in large quantities. The concept was popularized by [|Chris Anderson] in an October 2004 //[|Wired]// magazine article, in which he mentioned [|Amazon.com] and [|Netflix] as examples of businesses applying this strategy. Anderson elaborated the Long Tail concept in his book //The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More//. ([]) RSS: ** (most commonly expanded as "Really Simple Syndication") A family of [|web feed] formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as [|blog] entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format. An RSS document (which is called a "feed", "web feed", or "channel") includes full or summarized text, plus [|metadata] such as publishing dates and authorship. Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content automatically. They benefit readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from favored websites or to aggregate feeds from many sites into one place. RSS feeds can be read using [|software] called an "RSS reader", "feed reader", or "[|aggregator]", which can be [|web-based], [|desktop-based], or mobile-device-based. A standardized [|XML] file format allows the information to be published once and viewed by many different programs. The user subscribes to a feed by entering into the reader the feed's [|URI] or by clicking an RSS icon in a web browser that initiates the subscription process. The RSS reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new work, downloads any updates that it finds, and provides a [|user interface] to monitor and read the feeds. RSS formats are specified using [|XML], a generic specification for the creation of data formats. Although RSS formats have evolved from as early as March 1999, [|[4]] it was between 2005 and 2006 when RSS gained widespread use, and the ("  ") icon was decided upon by several major Web browsers. ([]) SOAP: ** (originally defined as //Simple Object Access Protocol)// A [|protocol] specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of [|Web Services] in [|computer networks]. It relies on [|Extensible Markup Language] (XML) as its message format, and usually relies on other [|Application Layer] protocols (most notably [|Remote Procedure Call] (RPC) and [|HTTP]) for message negotiation and transmission. SOAP can form the foundation layer of a [|web services protocol stack], providing a basic messaging framework upon which web services can be built. This XML based protocol consists of three parts: an envelope - which defines what is in the message and how to process it, a set of encoding rules for expressing instances of application-defined data types, and a convention for representing procedure calls and responses. As a layman's example of how SOAP procedures can be used, a SOAP message could be sent to a web service enabled web site (for example, a house price database) with the parameters needed for a search. The site would then return an XML-formatted document with the resulting data (prices, location, features, etc). Because the data is returned in a standardized machine-parseable format, it could then be integrated directly into a third-party site.  ( [])
 * Cloud**: The term //cloud// is used as a [|metaphor] for the Internet, based on the cloud drawing used to depict the Internet in [|computer network diagrams] as an [|abstraction] of the underlying infrastructure it ([])
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XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language): **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> A family of [|XML] [|markup languages] that mirror or extend versions of the widely used [|Hypertext Markup Language] (HTML), the language in which [|web pages] are written. XHTML was developed to make HTML more [|extensible] and increase [|interoperability] with other data formats. ([]) <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
 * Wiki:** Running on wiki software installed on a server somewhere on the web, a wiki is a website that allows users with a web browser to access web pages and to update and add to the existing content on the pages. The goal of a wiki is to tap the collective knowledge of its users to present a more complete understanding of a topic. The wiki can be completely open to all users to modify or permissions can be set to all a smaller set of users to moderate the content for accuracy and fairness. Ward Cunningham developed the first wiki software. The term has its origin in Hawaiian, where it means “fast.” ([] )
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