A URL (Uniform Resource Locator), essentially a web address, is constructed from several key components that tell your browser where to find a specific resource on the internet. These components work together in a structured manner.
Here's a breakdown of the parts of a URL and how they fit together:
Components of a URL
A typical URL follows this general structure:
protocol://subdomain.domainname.topleveldomain:port/path?query#fragment
Let's examine each part in detail:
-
Protocol (or Scheme):
- This is the first part of the URL and specifies how your browser should communicate with the web server.
- Common protocols include:
http://(Hypertext Transfer Protocol): The standard protocol for the web. It's generally unencrypted.https://(Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure): A secure version of HTTP that uses encryption for secure communication. This is strongly recommended for all websites, especially those handling sensitive data.ftp://(File Transfer Protocol): Used for transferring files between a client and a server.mailto:Used to create a link that opens the user's default email program and pre-fills the "To" field.
- Example:
https://
-
Subdomain (Optional):
- A subdomain is a part of the main domain and comes before the domain name.
- It's used to organize different sections or functionalities of a website.
- A common example is
www(World Wide Web), but subdomains can also be used for blogs (e.g.,blog.example.com), online stores (e.g.,shop.example.com), or mobile versions of a website (e.g.,m.example.com). - Example:
www.
-
Domain Name:
- This is the main name of the website. It's what users typically remember and type into their browser.
- Example:
example
-
Top-Level Domain (TLD):
- This is the last part of the domain name and indicates the type of entity or geographical location associated with the website.
- Common TLDs include:
.com(Commercial).org(Organization).net(Network).edu(Educational).gov(Government)- Country-specific TLDs like
.uk(United Kingdom),.ca(Canada),.de(Germany), etc.
- Example:
.com
-
Port (Optional):
- A port number specifies a specific "doorway" on the server that the connection should be made to.
- It is typically omitted from the URL if using the default ports for the protocol (e.g., port 80 for HTTP and port 443 for HTTPS).
- If a non-default port is used, it is specified after the domain name, separated by a colon.
- Example:
:8080
-
Path (Optional):
- The path specifies the location of a specific resource (e.g., a file or page) on the server.
- It is a series of directory names separated by forward slashes (
/). - Example:
/products/shoes/running
-
Query (Optional):
- The query string is used to pass parameters or data to the server.
- It starts with a question mark (
?) and consists of one or more parameter-value pairs separated by ampersands (&). - Example:
?search=blue+shoes&size=10
-
Parameters (Optional):
- These are key-value pairs within the query string that provide specific information to the server, often to filter or customize the response.
- Each parameter consists of a name and a value, separated by an equals sign (
=). - In the example above (
?search=blue+shoes&size=10),searchandsizeare parameters.
-
Fragment (Optional):
- The fragment identifier is used to link to a specific section within a web page.
- It starts with a hash symbol (
#) and is followed by an identifier. - When the browser encounters a fragment, it scrolls to the element with the corresponding ID on the page.
- Example:
#section2
Putting it All Together
A complete example URL might look like this:
https://www.example.com:8080/products/shoes/running?color=blue&size=10#reviews
In this example:
https://is the protocol.wwwis the subdomain.example.comis the domain name.:8080is the port number./products/shoes/runningis the path.?color=blue&size=10is the query string with parameters.#reviewsis the fragment identifier.
