Asynchronus JavaScript and XML, or AJAX, is the use of established web-standards to improve the nature of online communications, mostly in the realm of the world wide web. AJAX is one of the tools used in the Web 2.0 revolution to create new and more dynamic websites. Perhaps one of the most common examples of AJAX is the loading and transfer of data without a page-refresh in a web-browser.
Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS, are files containing declarations regarding the specialized rendering of specified HTML tags. When a CSS file is not present, and no CSS declarations are included in the HTML file, the web-browser will render the HTML based on its own default settings.
Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML, is the primary language of the web. Based on the Standard Generalized Markup Language, HTML uses a system of tags, enclosed in inequality signs, to define the organization of content and its display. Further definition of its display can be designated by a referenced Cascading Style Sheet, or CSS, file.
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP, is the primary transportation protocol for information on the Internet. HTTP is used when browsing the web, downloading files, uploading files via the WebDAV standard, and for most AJAX processes.
Instant Messaging, or IM, is the use of software to communicate online between two or more persons via text. Unlike e-mail, IM delivers messages immediately and, for the most part, can only facilitate communications between persons on the same network. Also unlike e-mail, IM is intended for short messages, similar to SMS or "texting".
A search engine, like Google or Yahoo, is a web site returns a list of websites related to a keyword or keywords supplied by the user. Search engines utilize special software, called spiders, to index information on the world wide web. This process is called crawling. The information is then stored in the engine's back-end database for future reference by the front-end software when the user enters a keyword. Listings are usually returned based on their relevancy to the search and the number of back-links, or links from other websites, a listing possesses.