Difference Between URL and URI

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) are both standardized web addresses that are used to identify and locate resources on the Internet. They are often used interchangeably, but there is a subtle difference between the two. A URL is used to specify the address of a resource on the Internet, whereas a URI can specify both the URL and URN of the web resource.

Read this article to find out more about URL and URI and how they are different from each other.

What is URL?

A URL represents the specific location of a web resource on the Internet. A URL is a quotation for a resource and a way to create that resource. It always displays a unique resource that can be an HTML page, a Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) document, an image, or any other file on the internet.

A URL includes both the domain name and the path to the specific resource. A URL is a complete web address that can be used to access a particular web page or resource.

A URL has the following syntax −

protocol://domain_name.domain_code/file_path

Here, the "protocol" specifies the type of server in which the file located. The "domain name" is the address of the server, and the "file path" specifies the location of the file on the server. Also, "//" is a type of separator that instruct the browser that the next words will be the actual URL.

What is URI?

A URI is basically a string identifier which specifies a resource on the Internet. A typical URI is a string of characters that can identify any resource on the Internet using location, name, or both.

A URI is a more general term that includes both URLs and other types of web addresses. It can be used to identify a resource, but it does not necessarily include the information needed to locate and access the resource. It supports a standard approach for resources to be created by several computers across a network or over the web.

URI can be used by software programs such as web browsers and P2P file sharing programs to find and download files.

Difference between URL and URI

The following table highlights the important differences between a URL and a URI −

S.No.	URL	URI
1.	It stands for Uniform Resource Locator.	It stands for Uniform Resource Identifier.
2.	It is used to help describe the identity of an item.	It provides a technique to define the identity of an item.
3.	It can link a web page, a component of a web page or a program on a web page using access methods such as protocols.	It can be used to distinguish one resource from another, irrespective of the access method being used.
4.	It gives details about the type of protocol that needs to be used.	It doesn’t contain any specification about the protocol.
5.	It is a type of URI.	It can be considered as the superset of URL.
6.	URL determines the address of a resource on the internet or a computer network.	URI identifies and differentiates a resource from other resources.
7.	URL can locate and retrieve web pages only.	URI can locate any type of file such as HTML, XML, XSLT, and many more.
8.	The components of a URL are protocol, domain name, domain code, file path, hash, etc.	The components of a URL are protocol, domain name, domain code, file path, hash, etc.

Conclusion

A URL is generally used to search the webpages on the Internet, while a URI is used to recognize the resources and binaries in XML and tag library files. A URL is a specific type of URI that specifies the exact location of a resource on the Internet, while a URI is a more general term that can be used to identify a resource without specifying its location