A URL is a type of uniform resource identifier and is address of a resource on the World Wide Web and the protocol used to access it. It is used to indicate the location of a web resource to access the web pages. For example, to visit the javatpoint website, you will go to the URL www.javatpoint.com, which is the URL for the javatpoint website.

The URL sends users to a specific resource online such as video, webpage, or other resources. When you search any query on Google, it will display the multiple URLs of the resource that are all related to your search query. The displayed URLs are the hyperlink to access the webpages.

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) contains the information, which is as follows:

• The port number on the server, which is optional.
• It contains a protocol that is used to access the resource.
• The location of the server
• A fragment identifier
• In the directory structure of the server, it contains the location of the resource.

The additional information about the URL is described below with the help of an example:

Let’s take an example: https://www.javatpoint.com/jtp.htm, it indicates the jtp.htm is a file located on the server with the address of javatpoint.com.

http:// or https://

The http is a protocol that stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It tells the browser to which protocol will be preferred to use for accessing the information that is specified in the domain.

The https (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is an enhanced protocol as compared to http as it concerned with security. It provides the surety that the information, which is transmitted over HTTP is secure and encrypted. The colon (:) and two forward slashes (//) are used to separate the protocol from the rest of the part of the URL.

www.

The www is used to distinguish the content, which stands for World Wide Web. This portion of the URL can be left out many times, as it is not required. For instance, if you type “http://javatpoint.com,” you will still get the javatpoint website. For an important subpage, this portion can also be substituted, which is known as a subdomain.

javatpoint.com

The javatpoint.com is the domain name for the website, and the .com is called TLD or suffix. It helps to identify the location or type of the website. For example, “.org” stands for an organization, “.co.uk” stands for the United Kingdom, and “.com” is for commercial. There are various types of domain suffixes available; you are required to register the name through a domain registrar to get a domain.

jtp.htm

The jtp.htm is the name of the web page, and the .htm is the file extension of the web page, which describes the file is an HTML file. There are many other file extensions available on the internet such as .php, .html, .xml, .jpg, .gif, .asp, .cgi, etc.

Where is the URL located?

A URL is located in the address bar or search bar at the top of the browser window. The URL is always visible in the desktop computers and laptop unless your browser is being displayed in full screen. In most of the smartphones and tablets, when you scroll down the page, the URL will disappear and only show the domain when visible. To visible the address bar, you need to scroll up the page. And, if only the domain is shown and you want to see full address, tapping on the address bar to show the full address.

What characters cannot be used in the URL?

It is realized by many people that space is not allowed in a URL. The URL string can contain only symbols ! $-_+*'(), including alphanumeric characters as it is documented in RFC 1738. Any other characters must be encoded in the URL if needed.

Is an IP address the same as a web address or a URL?

An IP address is not the same as a web address or a URL, as it is a unique number that is assigned to each device on a network. A domain name is assigned a unique IP address on the World Wide Web, and when entered an URL like javatpoint.com, it is translated by DNS into an IP address that used by routers to find web servers. Instead of using an IP address, a domain name is used as it is easy to remember by humans. For example, to remember an IP address like 216.58.216.164 is hard, and much easier to remember ‘javatpoint.com.’