Editing Rewrite engine (section)

{{Short description|Web server component for mapping URLs}}
{{About|URL rewriting|rewrite engines in mathematics and logic|Rewrite system|other uses|Rewrite (disambiguation){{!}}Rewrite}}
{{primary sources|date=January 2011}}

In [[web application]]s, a '''rewrite engine''' is a software component that performs [[rewriting]] on [[URLs]] (Uniform Resource Locators), modifying their appearance. This modification is called '''URL rewriting'''. It is a way of implementing [[URL mapping]] or routing within a [[web application]]. The engine is typically a component of a [[web server]] or [[web application framework]]. Rewritten URLs (sometimes known as '''short''', '''pretty''' or '''fancy URLs''', search engine friendly - '''SEF''' URLs, or [[slug (web publishing)|slug]]s) are used to provide shorter and more relevant-looking links to web pages. The technique adds a layer of [[abstraction]] between the files used to generate a web page and the URL that is presented to the outside world.