Difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web

Internet is the term used to identify the massive interconnection of computer networks around the world. It refers to the physical connection of the routes between two or more computers. World Wide Web is the general name for accessing the Internet via HTTP, hence WWW.anything.com. It is just one of the connection protocols available on the internet and not the only one.

When you refer to the Internet, you mean hardware connections. It is made up of computers, cables, routers, switches, repeaters, and many more that make up the entire network. It is the physical layer where multiple protocols are used to facilitate data across the globe. Some of the protocols running on the Internet may not be as popular as WWW, but surely most of us have used these protocols in one way or another. Email applications do not use the WWW to transmit data over the Internet, as they have their own protocol known as SMTP, POP, and IMAP. IP phones used to make calls over the Internet have their own VoIP protocols and do not need the WWW.

The World Wide Web is just another application running on top of the Internet. The servers host websites that you can visit using your browser using the HTTP protocol. You can then navigate through the site via hyperlinks that take you from page to page and even to pages on another site.

It is a very common misconception that most people treat the Internet and WWW as if they are interchangeable, although it can be argued that WWW is the most popular method of using the Internet. Whenever you are using an Internet browser, you are probably accessing the WWW. You can check if you are checking in the address bar and see if http or https comes first. If you see FTP or any other acronym in there, you’re not on the World Wide Web.

Summary:

1. The Internet is the collective name for all the devices that make up the global network.
2. World Wide Web is a common name for HTTP, which is one of the protocols running on the Internet.
3. There are other services running on the Internet apart from WWW
4. The Internet and the World Wide Web are not synonyms, although most users treat them as such.