URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
What is a URL?
An Internet resource can be found using a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), a special identifier. It is additionally known as a web address. URLs contain several components, such as a protocol and domain name, which instruct a web browser on how and from where to retrieve a resource.
End users can access URLs by directly typing them into their browser’s address bar or by clicking a hyperlink that they find on a webpage, in a bookmark list, in an email, or from another application.
The following details are found in a URL and are listed below:
- Protocol name – Double forward slashes (://) after a colon
- Hostname (domain name) or IP address
- Optional colon followed by port number; “:80” is the default port for HTTP and “:443” is the default port for HTTPS, unless otherwise specified.
- The file’s path
Parts of a URL
Components of a URL can include the following, using the URL https://www.cshub.in/uniformresourcelocator as an illustration:
- The protocol or scheme. used to access an online resource. Protocols include mailto, file, http, https, and ftps.Through the domain name system (DNS) name, one can access the resource. The protocol used in this illustration is https.
- Host name or domain name. The unique reference the represents a webpage. For this example, cshub.in.
- Port name. Usually hidden in URLs, but essential. The default port for web servers is 80, which is always followed by a colon, but there are other choices. for instance,:port 80.
- Path. A path refers to a file or location on the web server. For this example, /uniformresourcelocator.
- Query. Found in dynamic pages’ URLs. A question mark is followed by parameters in the query. In this instance,?
- Parameters. Information contained in a URL’s query string. Ampersands can be used to separate multiple parameters (&). In this instance, q=URL.
- Fragment. A section of the website is being referred to by this internal page reference. It starts with a hashtag (#) and appears at the end of a URL. Although it isn’t in the aforementioned example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet#History could serve as an example for #history.
HTTP vs. HTTPs
When retrieving information from a web server to view content in a browser, HTTP and HTTPS are both used. They differ in that HTTPS encrypts the connection between the client and the server using a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate.
HTTPS is essential for preventing unauthorised access to sensitive data, including passwords, credit card numbers, and identity information.
HTTPS by default uses TCP/IP port number 443 while HTTP uses port 80.
URL vs. URI
Most Uniform Resource Identifiers take the form of URLs (URI). A resource on a network is identified by URIs, which are character strings. To navigate the internet, you need URLs.