You could use these three letters, URL, and begin rhyming but that is far from what they represent for this article. These three letters are an acronym for Uniform Resource Locator. Why is this acronym so darn important today? Without it, the Internet (World Wide Web) as we know it would be worthless and we would continue to contact others and obtain information just like we have in the past.
To make it simple, a Uniform Resource Locator is an address of where something is located on the Internet. Every document that is written, verbal or visual has its own unique address. This is to uniquely identify each piece or groups of information that is available on the Internet.
There are two sections to a URL that work together to direct and locate a specific document. The beginning segment is called the protocol identifier. The second part is the resource name. The two segments are separated by a full colon and then two forward slashes.
The protocol identifier references an executable file that states the format or how date will be transmitted between two devices. There are several standard protocols that can be used and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The one you are probably the most familiar with is "http".
The resource name is more specific as it states the IP address where the information that is being requested is located. This address, or domain name, identifies and address in a numeric 32-bit numeric format. The numbers can range from zero to 255 and groups of numbers are divided by a period. To prevent duplication, there are four regional Internet registries that assign addresses into three different classes. The registries are the APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC and RIPENCC. The classes are
You work with a URL every time you use the Internet. Every time you enter a search the Internet acts like a spider and searches for an object that matches your request. When a match is found, you will receive an address so that you can bookmark it or reference it if you need to in the future.
There are several types of URL's which all do the same thing but work a little differently. There is the base, the messy, the dynamic, the obfuscated and the PURL. The base is somewhat of a universal locator and can covert to other relative URL's. The messy is an address that doesn't make sense to the average Internet user as it has a combination of words, symbols and numbers. The dynamic is an address for a website that is ran from a script or is database-driven. The obfuscated is simply a fancy name for a hyperlink. The PURL, short for persistent URL, acts as a go-between for an actual URL and once established it won't need to change.
Perhaps if we were without the all important Uniform Resource Locator which was developed in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee, we might still be sending, obtaining and searching for information the "old way" which, by the way, is still very useful. The Internet speeds up the process and brings more of us together than we could ever imagine. Without a URL, you couldn't have found this article.
What is a URL?
To make it simple, a Uniform Resource Locator is an address of where something is located on the Internet. Every document that is written, verbal or visual has its own unique address. This is to uniquely identify each piece or groups of information that is available on the Internet.
There are two sections to a URL that work together to direct and locate a specific document. The beginning segment is called the protocol identifier. The second part is the resource name. The two segments are separated by a full colon and then two forward slashes.
Protocol and Resource
The protocol identifier references an executable file that states the format or how date will be transmitted between two devices. There are several standard protocols that can be used and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The one you are probably the most familiar with is "http".
The resource name is more specific as it states the IP address where the information that is being requested is located. This address, or domain name, identifies and address in a numeric 32-bit numeric format. The numbers can range from zero to 255 and groups of numbers are divided by a period. To prevent duplication, there are four regional Internet registries that assign addresses into three different classes. The registries are the APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC and RIPENCC. The classes are
Class A, B and C.
You work with a URL every time you use the Internet. Every time you enter a search the Internet acts like a spider and searches for an object that matches your request. When a match is found, you will receive an address so that you can bookmark it or reference it if you need to in the future.
Types
There are several types of URL's which all do the same thing but work a little differently. There is the base, the messy, the dynamic, the obfuscated and the PURL. The base is somewhat of a universal locator and can covert to other relative URL's. The messy is an address that doesn't make sense to the average Internet user as it has a combination of words, symbols and numbers. The dynamic is an address for a website that is ran from a script or is database-driven. The obfuscated is simply a fancy name for a hyperlink. The PURL, short for persistent URL, acts as a go-between for an actual URL and once established it won't need to change.
Perhaps if we were without the all important Uniform Resource Locator which was developed in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee, we might still be sending, obtaining and searching for information the "old way" which, by the way, is still very useful. The Internet speeds up the process and brings more of us together than we could ever imagine. Without a URL, you couldn't have found this article.