UrlEncoder

What is URL Encoding?

URL encoding, also known as percent encoding, is a mechanism for encoding information in a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) under certain circumstances. It is used to represent characters that are not allowed in URLs or have special meanings in URLs.

When you need to include special characters, spaces, or non-ASCII characters in a URL, they must be encoded using percent encoding. This ensures that the URL remains valid and can be properly transmitted over the internet.

How URL Encoding Works

URL encoding works by replacing unsafe ASCII characters with a "%" followed by two hexadecimal digits. For example:

• Space character becomes %20
• Colon (:) becomes %3A
• Forward slash (/) becomes %2F
• Question mark (?) becomes %3F
• Ampersand (&) becomes %26

Common Use Cases

URL encoding is commonly used in:

• Query Parameters: When passing data through URL parameters
• Form Data: When submitting forms via GET method
• API Endpoints: When including special characters in API URLs
• File Names: When creating URLs for files with special characters
• International Characters: When using non-ASCII characters in URLs

JavaScript URL Encoding Functions

JavaScript provides two main functions for URL encoding:

• encodeURIComponent() - Encodes all special characters except: A-Z a-z 0-9 - _ . ! ~ * ' ( )
• encodeURI() - Encodes special characters but preserves URL structure characters like : / ? #

For most use cases, encodeURIComponent() is the preferred method as it provides more comprehensive encoding.