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    The URL is the gobbledy-gook string of incomprehensible words and letters that the computer reads to find its way to a given web site.  
    If we look more closely at URL's, however, we find that there is a logic to those words and numbers. 

    Consider the follwing URL: 

    http://www.angelfire.com/sunflowers.html 

    http   stands for     hypertext transfer protocol 
    This tells the computer that it is a world wide web site. 

    www.angelfire.com 
    This is the name of the host site, where the page is stored.  
    We call this the domain name. 

    com 
    The very end of a domain name tells you something about the host site. 
    If it ends in com, it is a commercial enterprise. 
    .ca indicates a Canadian site 
    .org inidcates a non-profit organization 

    This becomes a significant issue when we consider the authority of a web site. Think of the host site as being somewhat like a book publisher. Being hosted by a credible organization lends credibility to the content of a web site. 
     
    sunflowers.html 
    This is the name of the file stored on the site. The html indicates that it is written in hypertext mark-up language.