URL: End with trailing slash?

[bradical1379]

When creating optimized and clean URLs, is there a "rule of thumb" for creating the URL strings? Do you end it with a trailing slash, a file extension, or however you re-wrote the URL?

Examples:

Trailing Slash => http://www.domain.com/example/function/
No Trailing Slash => http://www.domain.com/example/function
File Extension => http://www.domain.com/example/function.html

[webchalkboard]

Well I've created sites using all sorts of formats, but I've decided that I like the format

http://www.domain.com/example/function

Or better still make everything at the root level, so

http://www.domain.com/example-function

rewrite spaces to -

I think that looks neat.

[JakeJeck]

The 3rd one is bad. People will link to your content using an extension. If you ever change technology types those extensions may change (.html -> .php) but the incoming links to your site aren't going to change. Leaving the extension off the URL resolves that problem.

[speda1]

I always use the trailing slash.

Yahoo always strips them off. Aargh.

[ruby-lang]

URLs with trailing slashes will perform a little better, Yahoo's opinion on them notwithstanding.