Genius Tech Blog

The .htaccess file and Apache’s mod_rewrite module may be some of the most under-utilized web server utilities.

Millions of websites suffer the ignominy and shame of having hardcoded filenames
on their websites such as:

http://example.com/index.html

or unsightly url’s for their (sometimes dynamic) subpages, for example:

http://example.com/blog/post.php?post_number=1045

.htaccess and mod_rewrite can dramatically change these unfortunate websites for the better. They may become

http://example.com

and

http://example.com/blog/post/1045

Not only will the new names be easier to read and more intuitive, they will also be search-engine friendly and one step closer to a proper RESTful methodology.

For a good introduction to .htaccess, see:
http://www.crucialwebhost.com/blog/htaccess-apache-rewrites-oh-my/

There is a good mod_rewrite “cheatsheet” here:
http://www.addedbytes.com/cheat-sheets/mod_rewrite-cheat-sheet/

For more reading on RESTful principles, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_State_Transfer