URL vs URI: They’re not two competing terms.
I see this question a lot:
“Isn’t URL just another word for URI?”
Not quite. One is a category. The other fits inside it.
URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) is the umbrella term. Any string that identifies a resource — by location, by name, or both — is a URI.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is one type of URI. It identifies a resource by where it is, and how to get there.
There’s also URN (Uniform Resource Name). It identifies a resource by what it’s called, not where it lives.
Example:
https://example.com/paper.pdf → a URL. It gives you a location and an access method.
urn:isbn:0451450523 → a URN. It names a book. No location involved.
Both are URIs.
Every URL is a URI.
Not every URI is a URL.
So instead of asking:
“Which term is correct here?”
Ask:
“Am I pointing to a location, or just naming something?”
The goal isn’t to sound precise.
The goal is to be precise.
URI isn’t a fancier way to say URL.
URL is just one shape a URI can take.
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