URL Encoding: Spaces, Symbols and Query Parameters
Understand percent encoding and when to encode a full URL versus a single parameter value.
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Why URLs need encoding
URLs use certain characters for structure. A question mark starts a query string, an ampersand separates parameters and a hash starts a fragment.
When those characters are part of a value, encoding prevents the browser or server from reading them as structure.
Parameter values are usually the target
Most of the time, you encode a parameter value rather than an entire URL.
Encoding a full URL is useful when one URL is being passed inside another URL, such as a redirect parameter.