What is the Difference Between the Internet and the World Wide Web?

network

In every-day language, many folks regularly use the terms Internet and World Wide Web (Web) as synonyms.

However, the terms are not identical.

The Internet is a global data communications system. It is a hardware and software infrastructure that provides connectivity between computers.

In contrast, the Web is one of the services communicated via the Internet. It is a collection of interconnected documents, photos, videos and other resources, that can be accessed with a click of your mouse.

One could loosely liken the Internet to the global system of physical roadways, and liken the Web to all the cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles that comprise them (individual websites). If you could also imagine that all the vehicles are not only connected by pavement, but also by cell phones, and that you had potential access to every phone number of every vehicle in the world, the analogy would become more accurate.