Simple URL Shortener using Python

URL shorteners are handy tools that take long URLs and convert them into short, easily shareable links. In this article, we’ll walk through the creation of a basic URL shortener using Python.

How It Works

1. UrlShortener Class: We define a UrlShortener class that includes methods for shortening and expanding URLs.
2. Shortening URLs: The shorten_url method takes an original URL, generates an MD5 hash of the URL, and uses the first 6 characters as the short URL. The mapping between short and original URLs is stored in a dictionary.
3. Expanding URLs: The expand_url method retrieves the original URL using the short URL from the dictionary.

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Now, let’s create a basic Python script for a URL shortener:

import hashlib

class UrlShortener:
    def __init__(self):
        self.url_mapping = {}
        self.base_url = "http://short.url/"

    def shorten_url(https://medium.com/self,%20original_url):
        hash_value = hashlib.md5(original_url.encode()).hexdigest()[:6]
        short_url = self.base_url + hash_value
        self.url_mapping[short_url] = original_url
        return short_url

    def expand_url(https://medium.com/self,%20short_url):
        original_url = self.url_mapping.get(short_url)
        return original_url

#Example
url_shortener = UrlShortener()

original_url = input("enter url here: ")
short_url = url_shortener.shorten_url(https://medium.com/original_url)

print(f"Original URL: {original_url}")
print(f"Short URL: {short_url}")

expanded_url = url_shortener.expand_url(https://medium.com/short_url)
print(f"Expanded URL: {expanded_url}")

Considerations

• This is a basic example. In a production environment, you would need to address concerns such as collisions, data persistence (e.g., using a database), and error handling.
• The choice of using MD5 for hashing is for simplicity. In practice, a more robust hashing algorithm like SHA2 and SHA3 and additional features would be recommended.

Feel free to modify and enhance the code based on your specific requirements.