What is the difference between HTTP:// and WWW?

the first part of the URI - "http://" indicates the protocol which governs the type of communication. It stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. There are other protocols - the two commonest being: "https://" (denoting a protocol which securely encrypts data as it passes over the Internet and "ftp://" or File Transfer Protocol, used for transferring files from one place to another. "www." is not a protocol. It is the first part of the domain name (or 'human readable address' of a web site) and represents the whole space of the World Wide Web which is only ONE of the things which the Internet is concerned with. It is so common that it is often omitted (and actually automatically supplied) when an address is entered in a browser.

as far as I know www is part of a webpage address and the http is the link address to the site I think there is another word for the link address, it can all get very confusing can't if...