We explain what a URL is, what it is for and how it works. Also, the parts of a URL and their main characteristics.
What is a URL?
It is known in computing WhatUrl (English acronym: Uniform Resource Locator, that is, Uniform Resource Locator) to the standard sequence of characters that identifies and allows locating and retrieving a information determined in the Internet. What we write in the browser or explorer box to visit a certain web page, commonly referred to as "address", is precisely its URL.
Just as in real life every home or business has a postal address necessary to send you something by mail, on the Internet every resource (image, video, text, audio or Web page) has an associated address, which is necessary to have access to the information.
Therefore, when we visit a web page, we enter your address and receive it in thebrowser. But inside her, each Photography, text or resource of some kind also has an associated URL, with which it can be retrieved to carry out the “assembly” of the web page as a whole.
Also, when you click on a certain hyperlink, this will take us to another URL, either of a new web page or simply to see some of the resources of the previous one alone.
For example, the most popular search engine on the web, “Google”, Responds to the URL https://www.google.com in general, but its personalized national versions have slightly different addresses: https://www.google.com.ar (Argentina),
https://www.google.com.ve (Venezuela), https://www.google.com.br (Brazil).
What is a URL for?
As has been said, a URL is a specific address within the informational ocean of the Internet. It serves to locate different data and information that are necessary for the online browsing experience, that is, to build the Web pages and to provide punctual access to the user to each thing they want to visit within the net.
Thus, entering the URL of an image will take us to it; that of a archive This will take us to download it, and an online program to run it, all within the capabilities and specifications of the web browser that we are using for it.
Characteristics of a URL
URLs have the following characteristics:
- Accuracy. URLs must be spelled precisely to return the expected result. Any error in the string will prevent retrieving the desired information.
- Sequence. URLs are a sequence of ordered details, which must be entered in precise sequence, such as a postal address.
- Uniqueness. Each URL is unique for a resource or page on the Web, there are no two alike or two different that lead to the exact same element (although there can be many versions of the same element, let's say, a photograph, or there can be many pages using the same URL to retrieve it).
Parts of a URL
The domain is the name and type of service provided by whoever has what we are looking for.
Each URL is made up of a sequence of parts, which refer to specific information about the location of the resource, and which can be viewed separately:
- Network protocol. Http, Https, mailto and ftp are the main web protocols that head a URL, indicating to the machine what type of connection it should make and what is the language specific that will be discussed with the computer or computer network that will provide the information to the user.
- Service. Www, www2, etc., is about the possible online information support services, of which theworld Wide Web is the most popular.
- Domain, type of domain and country. It is the "name" of the company providing the information, or the project or network or the computer where they are found, that is, the specific name of who has what we are looking for; also the type of service it provides: commercial (.com), educational (.edu), etc., and the country to which it belongs: Argentina (.ar), Brazil (.br), Italy (.it), etc.
- Path and file name. The folders and directories in which the specific resource is located within the computer server (that provides the information).
URL timeline - website
Most browsers keep a timeline or history of the URLs visited, such as a record of the addresses that were called for information. These data They are usually sensitive and protected by security mechanisms, since unscrupulous interests in the network could access them and collect personal information about the user's browsing habits, thus violating their privacy.