Background-
URL Encoding is the process of converting string into valid URL format. Valid URL format means that the URL contains only what is termed “alpha | digit | safe | extra | escape” characters.
URL encoding is normally performed to convert data passed via html forms, because such data may contain special character, such as “/”, “.”, “#”, and so on, which could either: a) have special meanings; or b) is not a valid character for an URL; or c) could be altered during transfer. For instance, the “#” character needs to be encoded because it has a special meaning of that of an html anchor. The <space> character also needs to be encoded because is not allowed on a valid URL format.
One of the most common encounters with URL Encoding is when dealing with <form>s. Form methods (GET and POST) perform URL Encoding implicitly. As an example, click the form below to see the string being URL encoded.