The information revolution is bringing people of different backgrounds
from around the world into a global information superhighway. The Int
ernet provides a global platform connecting thousands of networks arou
nd the world. There is a variety of information available on the Inter
net for the users. It has been considered as a forum for users to shar
e worldwide information resources. The resources are so vast that many
of us really cannot grasp or understand the Internet fully. It has be
come a 'global information library' which allows the users to particip
ate in the group discussion, search for any information, start any dis
cussion with others and so on. It can be considered as a hybrid enviro
nment of postal services, citizen's band radio, libraries and neighbor
hood community centers where we ('we' is mainly used in this paper in
its generic form) can spend time with our friends ('our' is also mainl
y used generically). Internet users (Internauts) share jokes, gossip i
n on-line conferences and join special groups to keep abreast of their
specific interests. The main objective of this tutorial is to discuss
various services on the Internet, their implementations, various Inte
rnet tools, and interconnection to the Internet. Other important issue
s like the Internet addressing, domain name system, IP addressing, etc
. are discussed in detail in order to understand some design concepts.
A brief list of the different types of browsers for different platfor
ms is given. a discussion on future of the Internet is given via diffe
rent advances and tools defined to provide security, interconnectivity
and other related issues. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.