3 ms·
I highly recommend reading Weaving the Web by TBL. He explains how URI (identifier) was the term he wanted but he settled on URL (locator) because of politics.
by apitman 3y ago
I highly recommend reading Weaving the Web by TBL. He explains how URI (identifier) was the term he wanted but he settled on URL (locator) because of politics. The semantics are actually fairly important IMO. Does your URI represent a resource's identity or where that resource is?
- hot_gril 3y agoIt's important that the URL tells you where something is, I agree. For a string that doesn't do that, there's no need for a fancy universal term.
- apitman 3y agoURI came first and URL was adopted for dubious reasons. Personally, I now use URL for user-facing things because more people know what that is, and URI when talking to other developers because it sparks conversations like this which I think are useful.