url-parse vs url-parse vs url-join vs url-parse-lax
URL Manipulation Libraries Comparison
1 Year
url-parseurl-parseurl-joinurl-parse-laxSimilar Packages:
What's URL Manipulation Libraries?

URL manipulation libraries are essential tools in web development that help developers construct, parse, and manipulate URLs effectively. These libraries provide various functionalities, such as joining URL segments, parsing query strings, and handling different URL formats. By using these libraries, developers can ensure that their applications handle URLs correctly, which is crucial for routing, API calls, and linking resources. Each library has its unique features and use cases, making it important to choose the right one based on project requirements.

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url-parse24,106,5171,03563 kB12-MIT
url-parse24,106,5171,03563 kB12-MIT
url-join9,936,2183624.74 kB5-MIT
url-parse-lax7,744,28352-14 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: url-parse vs url-parse vs url-join vs url-parse-lax

URL Construction

  • url-parse:

    url-parse does not focus on URL construction but rather on parsing existing URLs. It breaks down a URL into its components, which can then be manipulated or analyzed as needed.

  • url-parse:

    url-parse does not focus on URL construction but rather on parsing existing URLs. It breaks down a URL into its components, which can then be manipulated or analyzed as needed.

  • url-join:

    url-join provides a straightforward API for joining URL segments. It intelligently adds slashes where necessary, ensuring that the resulting URL is correctly formatted without manual intervention.

  • url-parse-lax:

    url-parse-lax allows for flexible URL parsing, accommodating variations and potential errors in URL formats, making it easier to work with user-generated URLs.

Parsing Capabilities

  • url-parse:

    url-parse excels in parsing URLs, providing detailed access to components such as protocol, hostname, pathname, and query parameters, which is essential for routing and API interactions.

  • url-parse:

    url-parse excels in parsing URLs, providing detailed access to components such as protocol, hostname, pathname, and query parameters, which is essential for routing and API interactions.

  • url-join:

    url-join does not offer parsing capabilities; its primary function is to construct URLs from segments, making it less suitable for applications that require in-depth URL analysis.

  • url-parse-lax:

    url-parse-lax provides a more forgiving parsing mechanism, allowing for the handling of common URL errors and irregularities, which can be beneficial in user-facing applications.

Error Handling

  • url-parse:

    url-parse performs strict parsing, which may throw errors for malformed URLs, making it suitable for applications that require strict adherence to URL standards.

  • url-parse:

    url-parse performs strict parsing, which may throw errors for malformed URLs, making it suitable for applications that require strict adherence to URL standards.

  • url-join:

    url-join does not deal with error handling related to URL formats, as its purpose is solely to join segments correctly without validation.

  • url-parse-lax:

    url-parse-lax is designed to handle errors gracefully, allowing developers to work with potentially malformed URLs without crashing the application, making it user-friendly.

Performance

  • url-parse:

    url-parse is efficient for parsing but may have a slight overhead due to its comprehensive parsing capabilities, which is acceptable for most applications.

  • url-parse:

    url-parse is efficient for parsing but may have a slight overhead due to its comprehensive parsing capabilities, which is acceptable for most applications.

  • url-join:

    url-join is lightweight and optimized for performance, making it a great choice for applications that require frequent URL construction without overhead.

  • url-parse-lax:

    url-parse-lax may introduce some performance trade-offs due to its lenient parsing approach, but it is generally fast enough for typical use cases.

Use Cases

  • url-parse:

    url-parse is best suited for applications that need to analyze or manipulate URLs, such as routing libraries or web crawlers.

  • url-parse:

    url-parse is best suited for applications that need to analyze or manipulate URLs, such as routing libraries or web crawlers.

  • url-join:

    url-join is ideal for constructing API endpoints or building dynamic URLs in applications where segments are generated programmatically.

  • url-parse-lax:

    url-parse-lax is particularly useful in user-facing applications where URLs may not always be well-formed, such as forms or user input scenarios.

How to Choose: url-parse vs url-parse vs url-join vs url-parse-lax
  • url-parse:

    Opt for url-parse when you require comprehensive URL parsing capabilities, including support for various URL components like protocol, host, path, and query strings. It's suitable for applications that need detailed URL analysis.

  • url-parse:

    Opt for url-parse when you require comprehensive URL parsing capabilities, including support for various URL components like protocol, host, path, and query strings. It's suitable for applications that need detailed URL analysis.

  • url-join:

    Choose url-join if you need a simple and efficient way to concatenate URL segments while automatically handling slashes. It's lightweight and ideal for constructing URLs from dynamic parts.

  • url-parse-lax:

    Select url-parse-lax if you want a more lenient parsing approach that can handle malformed URLs gracefully. This is useful in scenarios where you expect user-generated URLs that may not conform to strict standards.

README for url-parse

url-parse

Version npmBuild StatusCoverage Status

Sauce Test Status

url-parse was created in 2014 when the WHATWG URL API was not available in Node.js and the URL interface was supported only in some browsers. Today this is no longer true. The URL interface is available in all supported Node.js release lines and basically all browsers. Consider using it for better security and accuracy.

The url-parse method exposes two different API interfaces. The url interface that you know from Node.js and the new URL interface that is available in the latest browsers.

In version 0.1 we moved from a DOM based parsing solution, using the <a> element, to a full Regular Expression solution. The main reason for this was to make the URL parser available in different JavaScript environments as you don't always have access to the DOM. An example of such environment is the Worker interface. The RegExp based solution didn't work well as it required a lot of lookups causing major problems in FireFox. In version 1.0.0 we ditched the RegExp based solution in favor of a pure string parsing solution which chops up the URL into smaller pieces. This module still has a really small footprint as it has been designed to be used on the client side.

In addition to URL parsing we also expose the bundled querystringify module.

Installation

This module is designed to be used using either browserify or Node.js it's released in the public npm registry and can be installed using:

npm install url-parse

Usage

All examples assume that this library is bootstrapped using:

'use strict';

var Url = require('url-parse');

To parse an URL simply call the URL method with the URL that needs to be transformed into an object.

var url = new Url('https://github.com/foo/bar');

The new keyword is optional but it will save you an extra function invocation. The constructor takes the following arguments:

  • url (String): A string representing an absolute or relative URL.
  • baseURL (Object | String): An object or string representing the base URL to use in case url is a relative URL. This argument is optional and defaults to location in the browser.
  • parser (Boolean | Function): This argument is optional and specifies how to parse the query string. By default it is false so the query string is not parsed. If you pass true the query string is parsed using the embedded querystringify module. If you pass a function the query string will be parsed using this function.

As said above we also support the Node.js interface so you can also use the library in this way:

'use strict';

var parse = require('url-parse')
  , url = parse('https://github.com/foo/bar', true);

The returned url instance contains the following properties:

  • protocol: The protocol scheme of the URL (e.g. http:).
  • slashes: A boolean which indicates whether the protocol is followed by two forward slashes (//).
  • auth: Authentication information portion (e.g. username:password).
  • username: Username of basic authentication.
  • password: Password of basic authentication.
  • host: Host name with port number. The hostname might be invalid.
  • hostname: Host name without port number. This might be an invalid hostname.
  • port: Optional port number.
  • pathname: URL path.
  • query: Parsed object containing query string, unless parsing is set to false.
  • hash: The "fragment" portion of the URL including the pound-sign (#).
  • href: The full URL.
  • origin: The origin of the URL.

Note that when url-parse is used in a browser environment, it will default to using the browser's current window location as the base URL when parsing all inputs. To parse an input independently of the browser's current URL (e.g. for functionality parity with the library in a Node environment), pass an empty location object as the second parameter:

var parse = require('url-parse');
parse('hostname', {});

Url.set(key, value)

A simple helper function to change parts of the URL and propagating it through all properties. When you set a new host you want the same value to be applied to port if has a different port number, hostname so it has a correct name again and href so you have a complete URL.

var parsed = parse('http://google.com/parse-things');

parsed.set('hostname', 'yahoo.com');
console.log(parsed.href); // http://yahoo.com/parse-things

It's aware of default ports so you cannot set a port 80 on an URL which has http as protocol.

Url.toString()

The returned url object comes with a custom toString method which will generate a full URL again when called. The method accepts an extra function which will stringify the query string for you. If you don't supply a function we will use our default method.

var location = url.toString(); // http://example.com/whatever/?qs=32

You would rarely need to use this method as the full URL is also available as href property. If you are using the URL.set method to make changes, this will automatically update.

Testing

The testing of this module is done in 3 different ways:

  1. We have unit tests that run under Node.js. You can run these tests with the npm test command.
  2. Code coverage can be run manually using npm run coverage.
  3. For browser testing we use Sauce Labs and zuul. You can run browser tests using the npm run test-browser command.

License

MIT

README for url-parse

url-parse

Version npmBuild StatusCoverage Status

Sauce Test Status

url-parse was created in 2014 when the WHATWG URL API was not available in Node.js and the URL interface was supported only in some browsers. Today this is no longer true. The URL interface is available in all supported Node.js release lines and basically all browsers. Consider using it for better security and accuracy.

The url-parse method exposes two different API interfaces. The url interface that you know from Node.js and the new URL interface that is available in the latest browsers.

In version 0.1 we moved from a DOM based parsing solution, using the <a> element, to a full Regular Expression solution. The main reason for this was to make the URL parser available in different JavaScript environments as you don't always have access to the DOM. An example of such environment is the Worker interface. The RegExp based solution didn't work well as it required a lot of lookups causing major problems in FireFox. In version 1.0.0 we ditched the RegExp based solution in favor of a pure string parsing solution which chops up the URL into smaller pieces. This module still has a really small footprint as it has been designed to be used on the client side.

In addition to URL parsing we also expose the bundled querystringify module.

Installation

This module is designed to be used using either browserify or Node.js it's released in the public npm registry and can be installed using:

npm install url-parse

Usage

All examples assume that this library is bootstrapped using:

'use strict';

var Url = require('url-parse');

To parse an URL simply call the URL method with the URL that needs to be transformed into an object.

var url = new Url('https://github.com/foo/bar');

The new keyword is optional but it will save you an extra function invocation. The constructor takes the following arguments:

  • url (String): A string representing an absolute or relative URL.
  • baseURL (Object | String): An object or string representing the base URL to use in case url is a relative URL. This argument is optional and defaults to location in the browser.
  • parser (Boolean | Function): This argument is optional and specifies how to parse the query string. By default it is false so the query string is not parsed. If you pass true the query string is parsed using the embedded querystringify module. If you pass a function the query string will be parsed using this function.

As said above we also support the Node.js interface so you can also use the library in this way:

'use strict';

var parse = require('url-parse')
  , url = parse('https://github.com/foo/bar', true);

The returned url instance contains the following properties:

  • protocol: The protocol scheme of the URL (e.g. http:).
  • slashes: A boolean which indicates whether the protocol is followed by two forward slashes (//).
  • auth: Authentication information portion (e.g. username:password).
  • username: Username of basic authentication.
  • password: Password of basic authentication.
  • host: Host name with port number. The hostname might be invalid.
  • hostname: Host name without port number. This might be an invalid hostname.
  • port: Optional port number.
  • pathname: URL path.
  • query: Parsed object containing query string, unless parsing is set to false.
  • hash: The "fragment" portion of the URL including the pound-sign (#).
  • href: The full URL.
  • origin: The origin of the URL.

Note that when url-parse is used in a browser environment, it will default to using the browser's current window location as the base URL when parsing all inputs. To parse an input independently of the browser's current URL (e.g. for functionality parity with the library in a Node environment), pass an empty location object as the second parameter:

var parse = require('url-parse');
parse('hostname', {});

Url.set(key, value)

A simple helper function to change parts of the URL and propagating it through all properties. When you set a new host you want the same value to be applied to port if has a different port number, hostname so it has a correct name again and href so you have a complete URL.

var parsed = parse('http://google.com/parse-things');

parsed.set('hostname', 'yahoo.com');
console.log(parsed.href); // http://yahoo.com/parse-things

It's aware of default ports so you cannot set a port 80 on an URL which has http as protocol.

Url.toString()

The returned url object comes with a custom toString method which will generate a full URL again when called. The method accepts an extra function which will stringify the query string for you. If you don't supply a function we will use our default method.

var location = url.toString(); // http://example.com/whatever/?qs=32

You would rarely need to use this method as the full URL is also available as href property. If you are using the URL.set method to make changes, this will automatically update.

Testing

The testing of this module is done in 3 different ways:

  1. We have unit tests that run under Node.js. You can run these tests with the npm test command.
  2. Code coverage can be run manually using npm run coverage.
  3. For browser testing we use Sauce Labs and zuul. You can run browser tests using the npm run test-browser command.

License

MIT