A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of a file (resource) accessible on the Internet. The type of resource depends on the Internet application protocol. Using the World Wide Web's protocol, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the resource can be an HTML page, an image file, a program such as a common gateway interface application or Java* applet, or any other file supported by HTTP. The URL contains the name of the protocol required to access the resource, a domain name that identifies a specific computer on the Internet, and a hierarchical description of a file location on the computer.

On the Web (which uses the Hypertext Transfer Protocol), an example of a URL is:

http://www.novell.com/documentation

This describes a Web page to be accessed with an HTTP (Web browser) application that is located on a computer named www.novell.com. Specific files are located in the directory named /documentation.