A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address used to access resources on the internet.
It is commonly known as a web address.
A domain name (example: example.com)
An IP address (example: 192.168.1.1)
Most users prefer domain names because they are easier to remember.
A URL is used by web browsers to request pages or files from a web server.
When you type a web address into your browser, it sends a request to the server using that URL
A typical URL follows this structure:
scheme://prefix.domain:port/path/filename
Scheme → Defines the protocol (such as http or https)
Prefix → Usually www
Domain → The website name (example: example.com)
Port → Communication port (default is 80 for HTTP and 443 for HTTPS)
Path → The folder location on the server
Filename → The specific file or page being requested
| Scheme | Meaning | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| http | HyperText Transfer Protocol | Standard web pages (not secure) |
| https | Secure HyperText Transfer Protocol |
Encrypted and secure web pages |
| ftp | File Transfer Protocol | Uploading and downloading files |
| file | Local File | Accessing files on your computer |
Today, HTTPS is strongly recommended because it provides encryption and security.
URLs can only use the ASCII character set.
If a URL contains special characters or spaces, it must be encoded.
URL encoding converts special or non-ASCII characters into a format that can be safely transmitted over the internet.
Special characters are replaced with:
% + hexadecimal value
A space cannot appear directly in a URL.
It is replaced with:
The default character set in HTML5 is UTF-8.
You should include this in your document:
<meta charset="UTF-8">
UTF-8 supports almost all characters and symbols worldwide.
If a URL contains special characters like:
Günter
It will be encoded before being sent to the server.
Different encoding standards may produce different encoded values, but UTF-8 is the modern standard.
A URL is the web address used to access resources online.
It follows a structured format (scheme, domain, path, etc.).
HTTPS is secure and recommended.
URLs must use ASCII characters.
Special characters must be URL encoded.
UTF-8 is the default character set in HTML5.