URL Shortener

A simple URL shortener built using Python 3 and Flask. This app allows users to shorten long URLs and redirect to them using short URLs.

Features

• Shorten a long URL into a short and unique URL.
• Redirect from a short URL to the original long URL.
• Flask-based web application.

Installation

Prerequisites

Ensure that you have the following installed on your system:

• Python 3.x
• pip3 (Python package manager)

Steps to Install

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/url-shortener.git
   cd url-shortener

2. Create a virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv venv

3. Activate the virtual environment:

   • On Windows:

     .\venv\Scripts\activate

   • On macOS/Linux:

     source venv/bin/activate

4. Install the required dependencies:

   pip3 install -r requirements.txt

5. Run the Flask application:

   python3 app.py

6. Open your web browser and go to http://127.0.0.1:5000/ to use the URL shortener.

Usage

1. Visit the homepage at http://127.0.0.1:5000/.
2. Enter a long URL in the input field.
3. Click on the "Shorten URL" button to get a shortened version of the URL.
4. Use the generated short URL to redirect to the original long URL.

How It Works

1. User enters a long URL.
2. The backend generates a unique short URL (hash/ID) for the provided long URL.
3. The short URL is saved and returned to the user.
4. When a user visits the short URL, the backend looks up the original long URL and redirects the user.

Technologies Used

• Python 3.x
• Flask
• HTML, CSS for frontend

Contributing

Feel free to fork this repository and submit a pull request if you'd like to contribute improvements!

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.