Please Whitelist This Site?

I know everyone hates ads. But please understand that I am providing premium content for free that takes hundreds of hours of time to research and write. I don't want to go to a pay-only model like some sites, but when more and more people block ads, I end up working for free. And I have a family to support, just like you. :)

If you like The TCP/IP Guide, please consider the download version. It's priced very economically and you can read all of it in a convenient format without ads.

If you want to use this site for free, I'd be grateful if you could add the site to the whitelist for Adblock. To do so, just open the Adblock menu and select "Disable on tcpipguide.com". Or go to the Tools menu and select "Adblock Plus Preferences...". Then click "Add Filter..." at the bottom, and add this string: "@@||tcpipguide.com^$document". Then just click OK.

Thanks for your understanding!

Sincerely, Charles Kozierok
Author and Publisher, The TCP/IP Guide


NOTE: Using software to mass-download the site degrades the server and is prohibited.
If you want to read The TCP/IP Guide offline, please consider licensing it. Thank you.

The Book is Here... and Now On Sale!

Searchable, convenient, complete TCP/IP information.
The TCP/IP Guide

Custom Search







Table Of Contents  The TCP/IP Guide
 9  TCP/IP Application Layer Protocols, Services and Applications (OSI Layers 5, 6 and 7)
      9  TCP/IP Key Applications and Application Protocols
           9  TCP/IP Application Layer Addressing: Uniform Resource Identifiers, Locators and Names (URIs, URLs and URNs)
                9  Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)

Previous Topic/Section
URL Relative Syntax and Base URLs
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
1
234
Next Page
URL Obscuration, Obfuscation and General Trickery
Next Topic/Section

URL Length and Complexity Issues
(Page 1 of 4)

Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) are the most ubiquitous form of resource addressing for some very good reasons: they represent a simple, convenient and easy-to-understand way of finding documents. Popularized by their use on the World Wide Web, URLs can now be seen in everything from electronic document lists to television commercials, a testament to their universality and ease of use.

At least, this is true most of the time!

When URLs work, they work very well. Unfortunately, there are also some concerns that arise with respect to how URLs are used. Both accidental and intentional misuse of URLs occurs on a regular basis. Part of why I have devoted so much effort to describing URLs is that most people don't really understand how they work, and this is part of why problems occur.

Many of the issues with URLs are directly due to the related matters of length and complexity. URLs work best when they are short and simple, so it is clear what they are about and so they are easy to manipulate. For example, “http://www.ibm.com” is recognizable to almost everyone as the World Wide Web (WWW) site of the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). Similarly, you can probably figure out what this URL does without any explanation: “ftp://www.somecomputercompany.com/drivers/videodrivers.zip”.

However, as we have seen earlier in this section, URLs can be much more complex. In particular, the common Internet syntax used by protocols such as HTTP and FTP is extremely flexible, containing a large number of optional elements that can be used when required to provide the information necessary for a particular resource access.


Previous Topic/Section
URL Relative Syntax and Base URLs
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
1
234
Next Page
URL Obscuration, Obfuscation and General Trickery
Next Topic/Section

If you find The TCP/IP Guide useful, please consider making a small Paypal donation to help the site, using one of the buttons below. You can also donate a custom amount using the far right button (not less than $1 please, or PayPal gets most/all of your money!) In lieu of a larger donation, you may wish to consider purchasing a download license of The TCP/IP Guide. Thanks for your support!
Donate $2
Donate $5
Donate $10
Donate $20
Donate $30
Donate: $



Home - Table Of Contents - Contact Us

The TCP/IP Guide (http://www.TCPIPGuide.com)
Version 3.0 - Version Date: September 20, 2005

© Copyright 2001-2005 Charles M. Kozierok. All Rights Reserved.
Not responsible for any loss resulting from the use of this site.