What Is Catenet?

In the earlier days of computing, when people were just getting started with packet-switched networks, they had much trouble. They needed help figuring out how to build or maintain these networks. One of the biggest problems was that there was no way to connect different local area networks (LANs). Each one had its proprietary network protocol so that even if you wanted to connect two computers on different LANs—one in New York City and another in San Francisco—you couldn't do it without building some software bridge. Because, each LAN was different, this would mean writing code for every network protocol out there! This problem was solved by Catenet, an open-source project developed by researchers at MIT who were trying to figure out how to make connecting LANs easier. Catenet was designed so that anyone could write code for their local area network using standard protocols and then plug it into a global network built on top of them. The term "Catenet" was used to describe early versions of the internet, but it's not a word that you'll hear much anymore. Catenet is a portmanteau of "catenary" and "network". A catenary is a curve formed by a rope hanging between two points, like a clothesline or a chain-link fence. The angle is shaped like an inverted U. The word catenet came from the fact that the internet looks like it's made up of chains connected. The internet is a catenet, and the world wide web is the internet. A catenet is a computer network consisting of nodes connected by links. One of the most popular types of catenets is those that use packet switching, which means that each node has its address and data can be sent from any node to any other node on the network. The world wide web is a subset of the internet, so it's a catenet. It's also called "the web" for short because it's all about connecting links to form an interconnected web.