Hypertext

Hypertext is a system for viewing and creating information that uses hyperlinks to connect text to other pieces of text or information. Hypertext is the underlying concept defining the structure of the World Wide Web, with pages and links defining the web's overall structure.

Overview

Hypertext is text displayed on a computer or other electronic device with references (hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access. Hypertext documents are interconnected by hyperlinks, which are typically activated by a mouse click, keypress set, or by touching the screen. Apart from text, hypertext is sometimes used to describe tables, images, and other presentational content forms with hyperlinks. Hypertext is one of the key underlying concepts of the World Wide Web, where web pages are often written in the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). It enables the easy-to-use publication of information over the Internet.

History

The term "hypertext" is coined by Ted Nelson around 1965 (see History of hypertext). The concept of hypertext is traced back to the work of Vannevar Bush, a pioneer who proposed a system called Memex in 1945. However, it was not until the 1980s that hypertext systems were widely used. The first hypertext system available to the general public was the HyperCard from Apple Inc. in 1987.

Hypertext and the World Wide Web

The creation of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 is a major milestone in the history of hypertext. The web can be seen as a global hypertext space where any document can potentially link to any other. The web uses HTML as its hypertext language, but also includes other protocols such as HTTP and URLs to locate and access information.

See also

• Hyperlink
• HTML
• World Wide Web
• Tim Berners-Lee
• Ted Nelson

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