Plug-ins | Internet Fundamentals

Plugin

A plug-in is a software module that acts as an add-on to a web browser and gives additional functionality. The common examples are the plug-ins used in web browsers to add features such display animations, video content, audio etc. Well-known browser plug-ins includes Adobe Flash Player, Quick Time Player.

Plug-ins (also called: extension, add-on, plugin, helper applications)

Plugins allow a web browser to display additional content it was not originally designed to display. For example, Macromedia Flash Player plugin allows the web browser to display animations.

During initial days of Internet, plug-inns were called helper applications. But these applications require a second window to be opened. Now a days, a plug-in application is recognized automatically by the browser and its function is integrated into the main HTML file that is being presented.

In the early days of the World Wide Web, the first versions of HTML couldn’t deliver fancy content like animation, videos. Plug-ins were invented to work around these limitations and deliver more interactive content.

Each plug-in is specialized in processing particular types of content. For example, plug-ins to play multimedia files like audio, video, games within web browser.

Most plugins are available as free downloads. Some plug-ins are developed by third-parties and are sold separately. To install the plugin, you visit the website of the plugin’s developer and click on a link that will download the installer for the plugin you have selected. Once you have downloaded the installer, you can open it and follow the prompts to install the plugin on your system. You may have to restart your web browser to enable the additional functionality provided by the plugin.

There are hundreds of plug-ins available, some listed below:.

• Adobe Flash Player plug-in used to view video, animation or an interactive game
• Silverlight plug-in purpose similar to those of Adobe Flash
• RealNetworks’ streaming video player
• Macromedia’s Shockwave for interactive animation and sound player
• MS word 2007/2010 Ribbon contains PDF plug-in to convert word files into PDF format

Note

Your computer is vulnerable to security attacks if you’re running plug-ins that are not up to date, because out-of-date plug-ins don’t contain the latest security fixes.