URL Encoder and Decoder Online | Percent URL Encoding and Decoding

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What is URL Encoding?

URL encoding is a way of fixing characters so that they can be sent over the Internet. URLs can only use plain ASCII characters, but sometimes we need to include more complex or different types of characters. To make these complex characters work in URLs, they are converted to a format starting with “%” followed by two numbers that represent the character in hexadecimal form.

Why Do We Need URL Encoding?

We need URL encoding when we need to use characters that are not normally allowed in URLs. These can be special characters such as ” < > # % | ^ [ ] ` and spaces, which can confuse or break URLs if not managed correctly. For example, spaces are tricky because they Make it hard to tell where it begins and ends.

URL encoding reserved characters such as! # $ % & ‘ ( ) * + , / : ; = ? @ [ ]. These characters play a specific role in URLs, such as “?” Marking the start of the query string with. If we don’t encode these characters as part of the data in the URL, they can mess up how the URL works, leading to errors and making it difficult to reach the correct webpage. That’s why it’s important to encode these characters correctly to keep URLs working properly.

What Is URL Decoding?

URL decoding or percentage decoding, reverses the URL encoding process. It converts the encoded parts of the URL into normal characters.

How ​​URL Decoding Works?

  1. Scanning the URL: The decoder looks at each part of the URL from beginning to end.
  2. Common characters: Characters that do not begin with a percent sign (%) remain the same.
  3. Decoding percent-encoded parts: If there is a percent sign (%), the next two characters are treated as a hexadecimal (number system using base 16) number. This number represents one character.
  4. Conversion to characters: Hexadecimal numbers are then changed to regular characters.

For example, if you see %40 in a URL, it is decoded to @ because in hexadecimal, 40 translates to 64 in the decimal system and 64 in ASCII (a character encoding standard ) is Value for @.

Tools for URL decoding in various programming languages:

  • JavaScript: Use decodeURIComponent() to decode parts of a URL.
  • PHP: Use rawurldecode() which decodes everything including spaces represented as plus (+) signs.
  • Python: Use urllib.parse.unquote() to decode URLs.
  • Java: Use java.net.URLDecoder and java.net.URLEncoder classes to decode and encode URLs.

Important Tips on Safety:

It is important to handle URL decoding safely. Improper decoding can lead to security risks such as injection attacks. Always check and clear your data, whether it’s URL-encoded or not.

In short, URL decoding is critical to understanding web data and making sure websites can talk to each other properly. Always use them carefully to keep your web applications secure and effective.