Web page forms can verify user information before sending information to the server or they can navigate links. These actions used to require the form sending information to the server, having the server process the information, and returning the appropriate information to the client, whether form verification or the specified link. Java applets are programs downloaded and interpreted on the client-side. Older multimedia formats require downloading the entire file before viewing it in a plug-in. Examples are QuickTime 3, MPEG, and AVI movies.
Current formats use a technique called streaming, which downloads a portion of the movie at a time.
QuickTime 4, RealAudio, RealVideo, and Windows Active Streaming Format movies are examples of streaming. Streaming these movies is done from a streaming server and requires the appropriate plug-in to play. With the Internet, which consists of millions of computers, displaying all the names would make browsing impossible. Instead, numbers are used, much like a telephone number, such as 128.59.35.56. A sequence of numbers is difficult to remember so names are used.