How to check if a URL is valid

Question

How can I check if a string is a valid URL?

For example:

http://hello.it => yes
http:||bra.ziz, => no

If this is a valid URL

Answer 1

I prefer the Addressable gem. I have found that it handles URLs more intelligently.

require 'addressable/uri'

SCHEMES = %w(http https)

def valid_url?(url)
  parsed = Addressable::URI.parse(url) or return false
  SCHEMES.include?(parsed.scheme)
rescue Addressable::URI::InvalidURIError
  false
end