I have searched for the differences, but it has left me more confused than before.
From what I understand so far, hypertext is a text that can link to another resource and hyperlink is the actual link itself.
Is this like how we use links in questions like this: Wikipedia where “Wikipedia” i.e. the link description is the hypertext and the hidden https://www.wikipedia.org is the hyperlink?
Also what is hypermedia?
From what I understand so far, hypertext is a text that can link to another resource and hyperlink is the actual link itself.
Hypertext is text that is not structured linearly, but contains hyperlinks to other text documents. You are not forced to read the text from top-to-bottom, instead, you can choose to follow the hyperlinks to different documents. This turns the traditionally linear text into a network or web of interrelated documents that can be read / traversed in a non-linear fashion.
Hypertext allows to structure text in a different manner than traditionally done. For example, in a traditional text, if you want to explain a complex topic, you have to make choice:
In a hypertext, you can structure the document as a web of documents. You can have one document with the general overview, one document for each concept, one document for each aspect of each concept. In the general overview, you can have hyperlinks to the concepts. In the documents about the concepts, you can have hyperlinks to each of the more detailed aspects. You can also have hyperlinks from an article about a higher-level concept to related concepts, you can have hyperlinks between related aspects, and so on.
The reader can then choose to follow or not follow those hyperlinks and can read the document(s) in their own order.
Some of these ideas have been present in traditional text as well. For example, if you have ever read a scientific text, you will have noticed the usage of two concepts:
Notes are additional information that the author did not deem necessary to include in the main text. They are typically placed in the footer of the page (footnotes), but they can also be placed at the end of the document (endnotes) or (rarely) in the margins (marginals). Typically, you have a little marker in the main text that indicates that there is a note which applies to this part of text. Often, these markers are superscript numerals like this1. At the bottom of the page, you will then find a note with this number2.
Citations are references to other documents. They are typically used to indicate where a particular idea or concept came from. They are indicated by a short identifier placed inside square brackets[DOE97] and listed in a bibliography at the end of the document.
In some sense, both of these are "links". However, they are not easily navigable. If you want to follow a citation, you have to first flip to the end of the document to look up the citation in the bibliography. Then, you have to actually go to a library and get the referenced article or book.
In a hypertext document, hyperlinks are easily navigable. For example, in a typical web browser, you just click on the link, and it takes you to the document. Using the navigation buttons, you can navigate back to where you came from.
This makes hypertext fundamentally different from traditional text, and is what it makes it non-linear.
Is this like how we use links in questions like this: Wikipedia where “Wikipedia” i.e. the link description is the hypertext and the hidden
https://www.wikipedia.orgis the hyperlink?
No. Hypertext refers to the general idea of having a web of text documents connected by easily navigable hyperlinks. A hyperlink is simply the connection between two hypertext documents.
Also what is hypermedia?
Hypermedia is a generalization of hypertext to include forms of media other than text: images, sounds, films, etc. So, instead of just having text documents that link to other text documents, you can have text documents linking to images, images linking to films, images linking to text, sounds linking to films, and so on. Also, a single document need not necessarily be made up of just a single form of media: you can have mixed-media documents which include text, images, films, and sounds in one document.
1. Instead of numerals, also other markers can be used like asterisks.
2. Or at the end of the document or inside the margin.
You've basically got it.
Hypertext is either the text of a link, or can be used to describe a document that contains hyperlinks.
Hyperlinks are links that can be clicked to display another piece of media or perform a pre-programmed action.
Hypermedia is a body of work that contains hypertext and hyperlinks. Within a hypermedia environment, the user can click through the media to navigate to different sections and/or perform pre-programmed actions.
