Development
What Is URL Encoding? Percent-Encoding Explained
URL encoding explained — percent-encoding, reserved vs unreserved characters, %20 vs +, UTF-8 handling, code examples and common mistakes.
AZ Utils Editorial · · 12 min read
AZUtils Blog
Guides, tutorials and tips to get the most out of our tools.
Development
Modern Cryptographic Hashes: Choosing the Right One
A survey of modern cryptographic hashes — SHA-2, SHA-3, BLAKE, password hashes, HMAC and deprecated MD5/SHA-1 — and how to choose the right one.
AZ Utils Editorial · · 11 min read
Development
Password Hashing Best Practices (Why Not SHA-256)
Password hashing best practices — why fast hashes like SHA-256 fail, and how to use slow, salted functions like Argon2, bcrypt and scrypt correctly.
AZ Utils Editorial · · 12 min read
Development
SHA-256 vs MD5: Which Hash Should You Use?
SHA-256 vs MD5 compared — output size, security, collision resistance and speed. Why MD5 is broken and where each is still appropriate.
AZ Utils Editorial · · 10 min read
Development
How SHA-256 Works (The Algorithm Explained Simply)
How SHA-256 works step by step — padding, 512-bit blocks, the message schedule, 64 compression rounds and why its properties emerge.
AZ Utils Editorial · · 11 min read
Development
What Is SHA-256? A Developer’s Guide to the Hash
SHA-256 explained — what a cryptographic hash is, its key properties, why it is not encryption, where it is used, and the password caveat.
AZ Utils Editorial · · 11 min read
Development
Checksums Explained: How Data Integrity Verification Works
Checksums explained — what they are, how they detect errors, CRC vs cryptographic checksums, checksum vs hash, and their limits.
AZ Utils Editorial · · 11 min read
Development
Why MD5 Is No Longer Secure (Collisions Explained)
Why MD5 is no longer secure — the broken collision resistance, how the attacks work, real incidents like Flame, and what to use instead.
AZ Utils Editorial · · 11 min read
Development
File Integrity Checks: Verify Downloads with Hashes
How file integrity checks work — comparing hashes to verify a download is intact, how to check on each OS, and accidental vs deliberate tampering.
AZ Utils Editorial · · 11 min read