A URL is like an online address that helps businesses and technology work together smoothly. For businesses, a good and easy-to-remember URL is like a digital shop front where customers can find and buy things. Secure URLs make online shopping safer. In technology, URLs are important for finding information online and making different technologies work together. Customized URLs help businesses see how well their online ads are working. URLs also make it easy for businesses to share information and work together. So, in simple terms, URLs are like the keys that open the door to a business’s online world, making it easy for people to find and buy things, and for businesses to work efficiently.

A URL typically consists of the following components:

Scheme/Protocol

This indicates how the resource can be accessed. Common schemes include ‘http’, ‘https’, ‘ftp’, and ‘file’.

Domain Name or IP Address

This specifies the server where the resource is located. For websites, this is typically a domain name, like ‘google.com’.

Port (optional)

Servers can expose multiple ports for different services. The port number can be optionally specified after the domain name or IP. If not specified, most protocols have default ports (e.g., HTTP defaults to port 80).

Path

The specific path on the server where the resource can be found. For web pages, this might be the path to a specific page or image.

Query String (optional)

Typically starts with a question mark (?) and is used to send parameters to the server.

Fragment (optional)

It starts with a hash (‘#’) and points to a specific part of a webpage.

Here are some examples:

Basic URL: https://www.google.com

  • Scheme: ‘https’
  • Domain: ‘www.google.com’

URL with Path: ‘https://www.example.com/products’ 

  • Scheme: ‘https’
  • Domain: ‘www.example.com’ 
  • Path: ‘/products’

URL with Query String: https://www.example.com/search?q=openai

  • Scheme: ‘https’
  • Domain: ‘www.example.com’
  • Path: ‘/search’
  • Query String: ‘q=openai’

URL with Fragment: https://www.example.com/articles#introduction

  • Scheme: ‘https’
  • Domain: ‘www.example.com’
  • Path: ‘/articles’
  • Fragment: ‘#introduction’

URL with Port: http://localhost:8080/dashboard

  • Scheme: ‘http’
  • Domain: ‘localhost’
  • Port: ‘8080’
  • Path: ‘/dashboard’

Remember, URLs are used to locate a wide variety of resources online, not just web pages. They can point to files, databases, software services, and more.