address field
[′ad·res ‚fēld] (computer science)
The portion of a computer program instruction which specifies where a particular piece of information is located in the computer memory.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
address bar
The input field in a Web browser that is used to locate a website or start a search. After typing a URL into the address bar and pressing Enter, the home page of the site is retrieved. If the URL of a specific page or document is entered, that item is delivered instead of the home page. Also called an "address field" or "URL bar."Alt-D or Command-L for Desktop Browsers
Go to the address bar quickly by pressing Alt-D or Control-L in Windows or Command-L in the Mac.
Address Bars and Search Boxes Merged
Early browsers had separate fields for the address bar and queries. Today, all browsers have only one input field and automatically detect a URL from a search. At most, the user has to click a results list one more time. See search box, address and URL.
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| An Early Browser |
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| In this early Firefox example, the address bar and search box were separate. See favicon. |
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| All Merged Today |
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| In modern browsers, such as this Chrome example, the address and search bars are one input field. If a URL is entered, the site is retrieved. If a company name is typed in, the company is the first result in the list and requires another click or tap to retrieve its website. |
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