The following glossary defines 290 terms related to the IT Industry.  
Please do not reproduce without permission.

C/C++

Popular programming languages (C++ includes objects) that can be used to create server programs that run after compilation.  C and C++ were not designed specifically for web programming, but they can still be useful, especially because mature compilers producing very fast code and large code libraries already exist.

Cable Modem

A cable modem is used for connecting to the Internet using the cable TV infrastructure. It offers high speed Internet access.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

A style-sheet determines how the HTML document is displayed by the browser. The current version of CSS is version 2 (CSS2).

CCIT

Comite Consultatif International Telegraphique et Telephonique (International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee). International telecommunication standards body.

CERN

(Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire) A nuclear research laboratory where the World Wide Web was invented.

Certificate

Digital ID used for SSL transactions.  It includes owner's public key, the name of the owner, the issuer, hostname, and the expiration date.

Certificate Authority

A company trusted by a browser maker that issues digital certificates that are supposed to guarantee that the company is what it claims to be for use in encrypted digital transactions though SSL.  Verisign is the biggest certificate authority.

CGI

Common Gateway Interface.  A standard for interfacing web servers with an executable application.  A CGI program can be written in any language like Perl or C/C++ and it is often stored in a special directory like /cgi-bin.  CGI is often used to process data from HTML forms.

cgi-bin

A directory on the server where the executable CGI scripts reside.

Channel Definition Format (CDF)

A way of defining the server-push channels for accessing frequently changing web content.

CHAP

(Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol). An authentication protocol used in PPP protocol. Uses a username and a password.

Client

A computer program that requests a service from the server program, usually over the network.

Client/Server

A network architecture where a system is divided into two parts: the client and the server.

clustering

Connecting many computers and making them appear as one machine. This is done to increase reliability and performance.

Co-location (colo)

Putting a web server in a dedicated facility that provides high-speed Internet connection, security, environment, backup power, and technical support.  Unlike the dedicated server, the client controls both hardware and software.  

Cobalt RaQ

Server appliance made by Cobalt specifically for hosting companies.  Newest RaQs are Linux-based and provide an easy-to-use interface.  RaQs have no features that can't be had in a regular Linux box but they offer pre-installed programs and Cobalt's support.

ColdFusion

ColdFusion is an easy to use server-side scripting language developed by Allaire.  It comes with ColdFusion Studio, a visual IDE.  Here is Allaire's ColdFusion page.  Other popular server-side scripting languages are ASP. Perl, PHP, TCL, Python, and JSP.

command-line interface

The opposite of the GUI (Graphical User Interface). A way of interacting with a computer system using the keyboard and a text-only display. Usually more powerful, but less user-friendly thatn a GUI.

Control Panel

Control panel included in web hosting packages is an online web-based application that allows you to easily manage different aspects of your account.  Most control panels will let you upload files, add email accounts, change contact information, set up shopping carts or databases, view usage statistics, etc.  

Cookie

A Cookie is a piece of data that is saved in the user's browser by the web server. It is used to customize user's browsing experience.

CPU

Central Processing Unit. The most important part of the computer.

Crawler

Also known as spider, an automated software that retrieves webpages and follows the hyperlinks contained in them. Used to generate indexes used by search engines.