URI and URL

URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) and URL (Uniform Resource Locator) are closely related concepts but are not exactly the same.

1. URI (Uniform Resource Identifier):

   • A URI is a string of characters used to identify a resource.

   • It can be further classified into two types: URLs and URNs.

   • URIs identify resources either by their location, name, or both.

2. URL (Uniform Resource Locator):

   • A URL is a specific type of URI that provides the means to locate a resource by describing its primary access mechanism and network location.

   • URLs include the protocol used to access the resource (such as HTTP, FTP, etc.), the domain name or IP address where the resource is located, and possibly additional path information and query parameters.

In simpler terms:

• A URI is a string of characters used to identify a resource.

• A URL is a type of URI that provides a means to locate the resource by specifying its network "address."

So, all URLs are URIs, but not all URIs are URLs. For instance, a URN (Uniform Resource Name) is a type of URI that identifies a resource by name in a particular namespace, but it doesn't include information about how to access the resource.