Url Encode

Content to be encoded

Content to be decoded

What is URL Encoding?
URL encoding (also called percent-encoding) is a mechanism for converting characters in a URL into a format that can be safely transmitted over the internet. Since URLs can only contain a limited set of ASCII characters, URL encoding ensures that special characters, spaces, and non-ASCII characters are properly represented.

How Does It Work?
    • Reserved Characters: Certain characters have special meanings in URL syntax (such as / for paths, ? for query strings, and & for parameters) and must be encoded when used as data.
    • Encoding Process: Unsafe or non-ASCII characters are converted to their UTF-8 byte representation.
    • Hexadecimal Representation: Each byte is then converted to a two-digit hexadecimal value.
    • Percent Prefix: The hexadecimal value is prefixed with a percent sign (%), creating the encoded form. For example, a space becomes %20.

Why is URL Encoding Important?
    • Cross-Platform Compatibility: Encoded URLs are universally interpretable by all web browsers and servers, regardless of locale or system configuration.
    • Data Integrity: Encoding prevents misinterpretation of special characters and ensures data remains intact during transmission.

Key Points to Remember
    • Unreserved characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, -, _, ., ~) don't require encoding and can be used directly in URLs.
    • Decoding reverses the process by converting percent-encoded sequences back to their original characters using the UTF-8 encoding scheme.
    • Most programming languages provide built-in functions or libraries for URL encoding and decoding operations.