How to: set up a search engine

1. Develop a "web spider" - a software program to browse the Internet.
2. Instruct the spider to begin its "web crawl" at popular websites, building an index of the words on the pages.
3. By following the links on the sites, the spider will quickly spread out across much of the web.
4. Build up an index of search words found by the spider and encode and store the data for users to access.
5. Develop search engine software - a program to sift through the millions of

How do computer store data ?

All the data stored in computer - every word, picture, number and sound - is captured as a series of electrical pulses that are either on or off. A number system called binary is used to represent these pulses with "1" meaning "on" and "0" meaning "off".

A single binary digit, known as a "bit", switches a single switch on or off. By linking together these switches, the computer can carry out the complex operations we demand.

Bits and bytes

1 bit = a binary digit either 1 (on) or 0 (off).
1 byte = 8 bits
1 kilobyte =