Difference between URL and URI?

Question

Possible Duplicate:
What's the difference between a URI and a URL?

Just to get it right:

URI = Tells you in which hotel you should go to sleep.

URL = Tells you in which room in what hotel you should go to sleep.

So URL is a lot more specific, it points to a final destination. The thing you want. While URI is something strange.

So what exactly is URI when it's not an URL? What's the real difference?

Possible duplicate of [Difference between URI and URL](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1984213/difference-between-uri-and-url), [What's the difference between a URI and a URL?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/176264/whats-the-difference-between-a-uri-and-a-url) — Bertrand Marron, Nov 21 '10 at 19:46
Hi! I've just created a video about this theme. Hope it helps to clarify: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RftwVvDKUAw&t=51s — Johnny Svarog, Dec 03 '17 at 17:11
Please see the question this duplicates. It has attracted a MUCH better answer. [What's the difference between a URI and a URL?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/176264/whats-the-difference-between-a-uri-and-a-url) — Josiah Yoder, Aug 24 '23 at 17:27

score 48 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 21 '10 at 19:46

48

URI: Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is a string of characters used to identify a name or a resource on the Internet. Such identification enables interaction with representations of the resource over a network (typically the World Wide Web) using specific protocols

URL: In computing, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a subset of the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that specifies where an identified resource is available and the mechanism for retrieving it.

Example

To identify a specific resource and how to access it - in all completeness

URI: mysql://localhost@databasename:password

The URL shows you where you can find the database on the internet and which protocol you should use.

URL: mysql://localhost

answered Nov 21 '10 at 19:46

Ariejan

10,910
6
43
40

4

this is wrong. URL and URI are interchanged. – Hamza Tahir Sep 24 '13 at 11:35
11

This is ambiguous and border-line incorrect. URLs are more specific than URIs. https://danielmiessler.com/study/url-uri/ – Ryan McGeary Jan 26 '17 at 18:17
3

While the cited definitions seem to be fine, the given example is misleading. – Sunday Nov 07 '22 at 08:44

score 17 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 21 '10 at 19:49

"URI stands for Universal Resource Identifier and URL stands for Universal Resource Locator. Often times people use the terms interchangably, which is not entirely correct. A URL is a subset of the URI popular protocols. These are protocols (http://, ftp://, mailto:). Therefore all URLs are URIs. The term URL is deprecated and the more correct term URI is used in technical documentation. All URIs are means to access a resource on the Internet and are a a technical short hand used to link to the resource. URIs always designate a method to access the resource and designate the specific resource to be accessed."- Source

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 21 '10 at 19:46

2

It's a URN, which identifies an item without giving any location.

answered Nov 21 '10 at 19:46

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams

776,304
153
1,341
1,358

1

Which one is the URN? I guess you're talking about the hotel example without pointing out the room? That's a URN? – Proud Member Nov 21 '10 at 19:54
That's one possible interpretation, yes. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Nov 21 '10 at 19:56
15

Introducing a third term, in my opinion, is not the best way to help us understand the differences between the first two. – Jeff Diederiks Jul 27 '17 at 21:25

Difference between URL and URI?

3 Answers3

Linked