The internet has been updated three times since its formation. Although it is inherently the same internet, its uses and influence on society are what separates web 1.0, web 2.0 and web 3.0. In this article, we will discuss web 1.0, web 2.0, web 3.0 and their features.

An Overview of Web 1.0 

The first edition of the web where you also had to learn binary between the years 1970 and 2004 coined as Web 1.0 featured static pages that did not allow users to comment or interact with the page. Web 1.0 was the result of a series of innovations right from the small network ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) created which was called the ARPANET which made breakthroughs like the invention of Packet switching.

Features of web 1.0

• In web 1.0 the web pages were static and came from a data center. 
• Web 1.0 started using TCP as a standard way of formatting packets and IP as the standard of addressing computers.
• Since Web 1.0 was government-run and funded at the beginning for certain universities and corporations alone, commercial use of the internet was not allowed initially. 
• Web 1.0 became a bit modular with HTML form elements which were rendered and arranged using table grids.
• In 1989, the first Internet Service Providers came into the picture that could connect the local network a person was on to the internet.
• The network was established by a phone call made to the network by the modem.

An Overview of Web 2.0

In the web, 2.0 consumers became secondary in their prominence while advertisers and publishers were the main priority in the hierarchy of the web’s domain. 

The web is considered upgraded at this point as a new form of communication was created with the help of languages like JavaScript for the front end and PHP, Java, etc. for the back-end. 

This version of web 2.0 which started in 2004 and is the standard today allowed for people to interact with the web page creating a social environment with interactive comment boxes. 

We are now living in the era of web 2.0 where modern technology is used to protect data but ultimately it has a lack of control over security and privacy. 

Features of web 2.0

• In web 2.0 any CRUD operation (Create, Read, Update, Delete) request goes to the server and a response is received.
• Web 2.0 is central to the middleman and that is how you get your personalized advertisements. 
• For example, a web 2.0 application such as Uber serves as the middleman between you and your taxi.
• In web 2.0 even server-side rendering is possible with frameworks like Next.js apart from the client-side rendering using HTTP requests and front-end frameworks. It is no longer a simple HTML rendering for which you could take an HTML tutorial as was the case with web 1.0.
• Web 2.0 has been all about the usage of Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning and Computer Vision, for example, the different kinds of recommender systems.
• In web 2.0 with the use of VPN, you could protect the anonymity of your activities even from your ISPs. It does so by creating a private network so that your IP address is hidden.

An Overview of Web 3.0

Web 3.0 overcomes the issues of security and privacy and has many different features. 

Instead of databases and opaque data sharing practices, web 3.0 will return control to the users which means they’ll be able to access data from anywhere. 

Web 3.0 will focus more on web interaction and will limit and control users’ content turning the entire web into a big database focusing on organizing data in a meaningful way. There would be smart contracts governing business between parties.

Suggested Reading: C Sharp and Sequel Programming Languages

Features of web 3.0

• Technology will be decentralized and blockchain technology would become the answer to security and privacy concerns in web 3.0. With the decentralization of data, personal information will not be saved in the large data centers and databases of the companies. 
• One of the biggest things in web 3.0 is that your digital identity is not 100% connected to your real-world identity. This means you can view pages, download things, make purchases and do any other activity on the internet without being traced to the real you.
• Web 3.0 is synonymous with the semantic web; however, with the help of artificial intelligence and semantics, it will help to give meaning to the data and solve the problems.
• Just to name several advantages that web 3.0 offers, no middleman to control the data, reduced data breaches, ability to work on any gadgets and lastly uninterrupted service. 
• It is said that we will reach the point of the internet where every company is run by a decentralized group called a DAO which stands for Decentralized Autonomous Organization in web 3.0.
• The biggest feature of web 3.0 is the smart contract. A smart contract code is a piece of code that is stored and executed on the blockchain to eliminate any kind of trust issues between the two parties which in turn makes it secure. 

With every drawback in technology, there’s always a way to rectify it. With web 1.0 it was the lack of interactivity between the user and the web page made it a mere render of a static page from a server that was solved in web 2.0. The problem with web 2.0 we didn’t know existed is the lack of trust and the complete control of data by a few companies sitting at the top of the competition ladder which web 3.0 shows the promise to resolve. It is not going to be a bunch of life-changing stuff all at once. It will likely be a series of ideas that grow together just like the transition from web 1.0 to web 2.0.  To learn technologies used in web 2.0, you can learn python from websites like python for beginners.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.