Web Architecture Quiz

Consider an on-line todo list:

ToDo List

• Buy milk [delete]
• Feed dog [delete]

Can you spot the problem with this design?

<h2>ToDo List</h2>
<ul>
  <li>Buy milk <a href="/items/1/delete">[delete]</a></li>
  <li>Feed dog <a href="/items/2/delete">[delete]</a></li>
</ul>

Web Architecture: HTML and HTTP

When this link is activated:

  <a href="/items/1/delete">[delete]</a></li>

the client sends this:

GET /items/1/delete HTTP/1.1

Web Architecture: exploration is safe

People have certain expectations about questions as opposed to statements or orders or requests. They apply to safe methods in HTTP, such as GET:

GET /items/1/delete HTTP/1.1

200 OK

item 1 deleted

Web Architecture Quiz (Key)

Using HTTP as designed:

ToDo List

• Buy milk
• Feed dog

<h2>ToDo List</h2>
<form method="post" action="/update">
<ul>
  <li>Buy milk <input type="checkbox" name="1" /></li>
  <li>Feed dog <input type="checkbox" name="2" /></li>
</ul>
<p><input type="submit" value="Delete checked" /></p>
</form>

*Yes, you can use AJAX to avoid a full page update, but be sure you know about unobtrusive javascript before you use it.

GET and POST: Innovation

GET and POST: Rough Consensus and Running Code

HTTP reaches Draft Standard status in the IETF, where TCP/IP, DNS, and SMTP are standardized.

Web Architecture Volume 1

Web Architecture: in practice

Web Architecture in W3C

The W3C Technical Architecture Group works on principles underlying the 30 or 40 technologies W3C is developing.

How fast does W3C change?

Founded in 1994, we celebrated our 10th anniversary in 2004 and collected a historical matierials for the event.

How fast does HTML change?

• Nov 1995: HTML 2.0 (IETF RFC 1866)
• Jan 1997: HTML 3.2 (W3C Recommendation)

  Netscape's blink element and Microsoft's marquee element were omitted due to a mutual agreement between the two companies.

• Dec 1997: HTML 4.0 (W3C Recommendation)
• Dec 1999: HTML 4.01 (W3C Recommendation)
• Jan 2000: XHTML 1.0 (W3C Recommendation)
• Apr 2004: Web Applications 1.0 (WHATWG draft)
• Jan 2008: HTML 5 (W3C Working Draft)

How fast does the browser marketplace change?

• early 1990's: lots of little projects
  See Timeline of web browsers in wikipedia
• late 1990's: Microsoft Internet Explorer takes over from Netscape Navigator
• 2003: MS IE, Firefox, Safari, Opera
• 1 Sep 2008: Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser, i.e Google Chrome

Web Security: How fast do the bad guys make zombies?

(1) Spammer's web site (2) Spammer (3) Spamware (4) Infected computers (5) Virus or trojan (6) Mail servers (7) Users (8) Web traffic

Source: Zombie computer article in Wikipedia

Web Security: How fast do the bad guys make zombies?

The number of compromised zombie PCs in botnet networks has quadrupled over the last three months, according to figures from the Shadowserver Foundation. ... The clear trend within these figures is upwards, with a rise in botnet numbers of 100,000 to 400,000 (if 30 day entropy is factored into equations) or from 20,000 to 60,000 (for five day entropy).

Zombie network explosion
By John Leyden in The Register 2nd September 2008

How fast does the web change publishing?

There is no way to overstate what the dismemberment of The Star means, adversely, to this metropolitan area.

Sadly, this event is of historic proportions
By: Steve Rose, Publisher, KCCommunityNews.com Sep 3, 2008

• Where do Newspapers get their revenue?
  • Advertisements
  • Especially Classified Ads

Ads on the Web: Craigslist, Google

• Craigslist
  • more than 30 million new classified ads each month
  • price: $0 (except for New York real-estate)

  • Popular community web site Craigslist, which launched in the mid-1990s, has cost newspapers in the San Francisco Bay area from $50 million to $65 million in employment advertising revenue.

    InformationWeek Dec 27 2004

• Google, Yahoo ads
  • Newspaper ad price: $26 (per Thousand Impressions/ CPM)
  • Internet: $6
  • "Merrill Lynch expects a 2.6% gain in overall US advertising spend this year [2007] but anticipates that newspaper advertising will decline by 1.5%."

How fast does the Web change the free press?

• What will become of our free press?
• Citizen journalism is great, but is it enough?
• Who will hire professional reporters?
• Silver lining? Google to broker newspaper advertising space
  -- Associated Press Nov 2006

How fast does the web change government?

• First-time political candidate Sean Tevis needs "at least $26,000 to have a shot" in the KS race
• After two weeks of knocking on doors, he had collected only $25
• Web comic went live July 16, and in a week and a half, he reached the $26K goal.

Questions?

Follow-up resources:

• W3C
  http://www.w3.org/
• Dan Connolly, W3C
  http://www.w3.org/People/Connolly/
• How Fast does the Web Change? (this talk)
  http://www.w3.org/2008/Talks/0910how-fast/
• Midwest Web Sense, my work in the KC area
  http://www.midwestwebsense.com/