Difference Between URL and Domain Name

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and Domain name are the common terms having relevance with internet or web addresses and are used interchangeably sometimes. Although these terms are absolutely dissimilar.

The major difference between URL and domain name is that URL is a string that provides the information location or complete internet address of a webpage whereas domain name is a part of URL which is a more human-friendly form of an IP address.

Comparison Chart

BASIS FOR COMPARISON	URL	DOMAIN NAME
Basics	URL is a full web address used to locate a webpage.	Domain name is the translated and simpler form of a computers IP address (Logical address).
Relation	Complete web address containing domain name also.	Part of URL defines an organization or entity.
Subdivisions	Method, host name (domain name), port and path.	Based on sub domains (top level, intermediate level, low level)

Definition of URL

When you want to access a website, you just write a web address in a web browser. Each web page is uniquely identified by a unique name (identifier) known as URL (Uniform Resource Locator). To extract the desired information the browser parses the URL and utilizes it to obtain a copy of the requested page. As the URL format depends on the scheme, the browser starts with extracting the scheme specification followed by determining the rest of the URL with the help of scheme.

URL contains full specification which includes a method, host name, port and path.

◈ The method specifies the protocol used to retrieve the document, for example, http, https, ftp.

◈ Host name string specifies the domain name or IP address of the computer where information is located, or server for the information operates.

◈ Port is an optional protocol number needed only if the popular port (80) is not used.

◈ The path is the file path in server more commonly the location of the file.

Definition of Domain Name

The domain name was invented to simplify the IP address and make it more human convenient and friendly. An IP address is a logical address (numerical label) assigned to every computer connected to a computer network. It basically identifies the location of the computer on the internet and also helps in routing the information. For example, 166.58.48.34 is an IP address. These are not so convenient to remember and hard to roll off your tongue.

The Domain Name System (DNS) converts a domain name into its specific IP address that computer want to communicate. When a user enters your domain name into a web browser, the browser uses your domain name to search and identify the correct IP address and as a result, passes the website associated with that IP address.

DNS has two distinct aspects; abstract and concrete. Abstract specifies the name syntax and rules for the names assigning authority. Concrete defines the implementation of the distributed computing system which effectively maps names to the addresses.

Domain also contains domain suffixes isolated by a delimiter character. Individual sections in a domain may represent sits or groups, but these sections are known as labels. Some suffix of a label in a domain name is also known as a domain.

Note that the domain name database is distributed among different machine (servers) that communicates through TCP/IP protocols rather containing it in a single machine.

Key Differences Between URL and Domain Name

1. The URL is the complete internet address used to locate a requested page and has a domain as its part. Whereas, Domain name is the simpler form of technical IP address which defines an organization or entity.

2. Domain name is partitioned into levels. The labels (sub-domain, domain suffix)are separated by delimiter character and follows a hierarchical naming system. On the other hand, URL provides more information than a domain name, and its partitions are method, host name (domain name), port, path, etc.