path an file strings) differ? Your definition of "path" does NOT correspond to the concept of "path" in the OP context. Unfortunately, URLs come with their own syntax and terminology, including the use of "file" and "path". What is this oddly shaped hinged device with indentations? (There is no Resource class in Java to represent a resource, but neither there is one to represent a file! It does not have a direct class or interface representation in Java, but because of its properties (locatable, readable) it is often represented by an URL. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. From the JRE point of view, it's just a term. What is URI. URL links a web page, a component of a web page or a program on a web page with the help of accessing methods like protocols. Well in the context of your question File/URL+URI are not related. There’s a third acronym that you might run into: URN, or Universal Resource Name. Key Differences between URI and URL By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy, Privacy Policy, and our Terms of Service. URI vs URL vs URN? The difference between URI and URL may be a bit confusing, but the following section will guide you through both the above topics and try to increase your understanding regarding the difference between URI and URL. Now, if I have a locator that references a class or package in a jar file, will those two (i.e. The two terms Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) and Uniform Resource Locator (URL) are sometimes used interchangeably. A resource in Java is an abstract concept, a source of data that can be read. In contrast, URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) is used to define an item’s identity here the word identifier means to distinguish one resource from other regardless of the method used (URL or URN). site design / logo © 2020 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under cc by-sa. All the previous answers cover different aspects of the difference. As he says, the word "file" has totally different (practically unrelated) meanings in URL#getFile vs java.io.File - may be that's part of the confusion. URL additionally contains a scheme that hints at how to reach the resource (with "file:" being "ask the host platform"), and so allows pointing at resources through HTTP, FTP, inside a JAR, and whatnot. Remember in Java a File object does not really represents "a file" but the location (the full name, with path) of a file. Class URL represents a Uniform Resource Locator, a pointer to a "resource" on the World Wide Web. Can lightning occur in stars like the Sun? ISBN. Oh, and there are also calls to URL url = resource.toURI(); and String file = resource.getFile(). A resource can be something as simple as a file or a directory, or it can be a reference to a more complicated object, such as a query to a database or to a search engine. I would note that this code is unlikely to work as intended. URI provides a technique for defining the identity of an item. Thanks for contributing an answer to Stack Overflow! Only if you want to pass the resource to some component which can work only with files, you need to get File from it. What's the difference between a method and a function? http, https etc to retrieve resource from its location. I'm looking at a piece of Java code right now, and it takes a path as a String and gets its URL using URL resource = ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader().getResource(pathAsString);, then calls String path = resource.getPath() and finally executes new File(path);. Because URL and URI are/were not the same thing, a new class was introduced to represent them, with methods URI.toURL and URL.toURI to move between one and the other. Because URL and URI are/were not the same thing, a new class was introduced to represent them, with methods URI.toURL and URL.toURI to move between one and the other. For example, in the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) system, ISBN 0-486-27557-4 identifies a specific edition of Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. Please note that I do not consider myself 100% competent to answer, but nevertheless here are some comments: In Java, URI is just a data structure for manipulating the generic identifier itself. The File class represents a resource that is reachable through the platform's native file system. The "abstract representation" part is quoted from the API docs. The fact that a URI can identify a resources by both name and location has lead to a lot of the confusion in my opinion. with very limited rights/privileges/security clearance, Java makes a clear (theoretical) difference between a file (something on the local file system) and a resource (something it needs to read). Because one of Java's early design goals was to be run inside of a browser, as a sandboxed application (applets!) ;). The Path interface is an abstraction of the File class, and is part of the New IO File API. once more : File is not a file, it's the path of a file). Does an AME's advertisement on the back of the medical certificate affect the document's validity under the FAA? URL URI; URL is used to describe the identity of an item. Files, URIs, and URLs conflicting in Java, The Overflow #44: Machine learning in production. It could be an entry in a ZIP file, a file reachable through FTP or SSH-FS, a multi-rooted representation of the application classpath, or really anything that can be meaningfully represented through the FileSystem interface and its driver, FileSystemProvider. A URL is a URI, but a URI can never be a URL. rev 2020.10.23.37878, Stack Overflow works best with JavaScript enabled, Where developers & technologists share private knowledge with coworkers, Programming & related technical career opportunities, Recruit tech talent & build your employer brand, Reach developers & technologists worldwide, @eckes One headache at a time, please. your coworkers to find and share information. But it comes with some handy functions to concatenate multiple strings, or add files to a string. Can someone please walk me through the differences, or provide a few links to Dummy-proof material? What's the logic behind dividing rental price of capital and wage rate by price level? No matter how the URL is structured, it will always be technically correct if you use the term URI. So c:\documents\mystuff\stuff.txt would have a path with the value of of "C:\documents\mystuff" Obviously the format of absolute filenames and paths would vary enormously from filesystem to filesystem. URLs are a subset of URIs. It contains only the name of the file, so it is really more a path (see later) that the host platform interprets according to its own settings, rules, and syntax. URI is a (slight) abstraction over URL. Most of the confusion with these two is because they are related. URL is a susbset of URI with URL usually representing resources accessible over http. In case the URL is a file-URL, URL.getFile will return a string identical to the path string of the referenced file. It will typically represent a system dependent file path. However, pick the one you need: file-URLs may not typically have query components, but I could sure add one anyway. Path takes away the reliance on the host platform's concept of a file. Every URL is a URI; Every URN is a URI; URI and URL are NOT interchangeable – a URL is a URI, but a URI is not always a URL; URLs always contain an access mechanism. There are various access mechanisms a URL can use, depending on the type of resource and its location. When is a closeable question also a “very low quality” question? UPDATE 2017-04-12 Check JvR's answer as it contains more exhaustive and exact explanation! The main classes representing (a path to) a resource are java.nio.file.Path, java.io.File, java.net.URI, and java.net.URL. As such, a URL is a non-persistent type of the URI. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. ;). If you mount a ZIP file as a file system in your OS, then File will read its contained entries just fine. It usually doesn't include the filename. URLs can lead to file-system resources and you can construct URL for every file system resource by using file:// protocol (hence File <-> URL relation). This answer deserves to have much more upvotes... will update my accepted answer to point readers to this one. The URL and URI can be differentiated with the fact that URI can represent the URL and the URN of the resource at the same time, but URL just can specify the address of the resource. A path is generally a string indicating the location of a file within a file system. What's the difference between url.getFile() and getpath()? In short, the main difference between a URI and a URL is that the former acts as a resource identify either by location name or both, while the latter acts as the location.