View source for Uniform Resource Locator

A '''Uniform Resource Locator''' ('''URL''') is a reference to a resource that specifies the location of the resource on a [[computer network]], and a mechanism for retrieving it.

== Example ==

A typical URL has the form:

<code><nowiki>http://www.example.com/index.html</nowiki></code>

The above example indicates:

* The protocol type ('''http''')
* The [[domain name]] ('''www.example.com''')
* The specific [[web page]] ('''index.html''')

Note that web servers commonly recognize ''index.html'' as a [[default file name]].  On such servers, this URL behaves exactly the same:

<code><nowiki>http://www.example.com</nowiki></code>

The URL also behaves the same with a forward slash, which many web servers automatically use:

<code><nowiki>http://www.example.com/</nowiki></code>

== URL is specific type of URI ==

A URL is a specific type of [[uniform resource identifier]] (URI).  Many people use the two terms interchangeably.

A URL implies the means to access an indicated resource, which is not true of every URI.

== Uses ==

URLs occur most commonly to reference [[Web page|web pages]] (http), but are also used for [[File Transfer Protocol|file transfer]] (FTP), [[email]] (mailto), [[database connectivity]], and many other applications.

== Browsers ==

Most [[Web browser|web browsers]] display the URL of a [[web page]] above the page in an [[address bar]].

== See also ==

* [[CURIE (Compact URI)]]
* [[Fragment identifier]]
* [[Internationalized resource identifier]] (IRI)
* [[Internet]]
* [[Semantic URL]]
* [[Typosquatting]]
* [[URL normalization]]
* [[Use of slashes in networking]]
* [[Web browser]]
* [[Web page]]
* [[Web server]]
* [[Website]]
* [[World Wide Web]]

== External links ==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_resource_locator Uniform resource locator]

[[Category:Computing]]
[[Category:Computer networks]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Web design]]
[[Category:Web design and development]]