URL Encode a string

What is url encoding?

URL encoding is a process of converting special characters and non-ASCII characters into a format that can be transmitted over the internet using the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) format.

In a URL, certain characters have special meanings and cannot be used directly, such as spaces, ampersands, question marks, and slashes. URL encoding provides a way to represent these special characters using a set of reserved characters and hexadecimal codes.

For example, the space character is represented as "%20" in URL encoding. Similarly, the ampersand character is represented as "%26" and the question mark character is represented as "%3F".

URL encoding is important because it ensures that URLs are correctly interpreted and processed by web browsers and other internet applications, even when they contain special characters or non-ASCII characters.

URL encoding is often performed automatically by web browsers and other software when URLs are submitted or generated. However, it is sometimes necessary to manually encode or decode URLs in certain situations, such as when working with APIs or constructing custom URLs for use in web applications.