A dot address (sometimes known as a dotted quad address) refers to the notation that expresses the four-byte (32-bit) IP address as a sequence of four decimal numbers separated by dots. Each number represents the binary value of one of four bytes. Look at this Internet address, for example: 205.245.172.72.
In 1974, after many failed attempts, a paper published by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, also known as âthe fathers of the Internet,â resulted in the protocol TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), which by 1978 would become TCP/IP (with the IP standing for Internet Protocol).
ARPANET adopted TCP/IP on January 1, 1983, and from there researchers began to assemble the ânetwork of networksâ that became the modern Internet. The online world then took on a more recognizable form in 1990, when computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. While itâs often confused with the Internet itself, the web is actually just the most common means of accessing data online in the form of websites and hyperlinks.