[copilot] – URL Shortener (Offline) Project

[Copilot]

This PR implements a complete Offline URL Shortener project as requested in the beginner-friendly contribution issue. The project provides a simple command-line tool that converts long URLs into short codes and stores them locally without requiring an internet connection.

🔗 Features Implemented

• URL Shortening: Generates 6-character alphanumeric short codes (e.g., abc123) for long URLs
• URL Expansion: Retrieves original URLs using short codes
• Local Storage: Persists data in JSON format (url_mappings.json) for offline operation
• Interactive CLI: Menu-driven interface with 5 options (shorten, expand, list, stats, exit)
• Input Validation: Handles invalid URLs and missing short codes gracefully
• Duplicate Detection: Returns existing short code for previously shortened URLs
• Usage Analytics: Tracks creation timestamps and access counts for each URL
• Error Handling: Comprehensive validation and user-friendly error messages

📁 Project Structure

week1_projects/copilot/URL_Shortener/
├── URL_Shortener.py    # Main application with URLShortener class
├── README.md           # Comprehensive documentation with examples
└── url_mappings.json   # Auto-generated data storage (created on first use)

🎯 Example Usage

Shortening a URL:

Input: https://github.com/NeuroByte-Society/weekend_projects
Output: Short code generated → K7m2Np

Expanding a code:

Input: K7m2Np  
Output: https://github.com/NeuroByte-Society/weekend_projects

🛠️ Technical Details

• Language: Python 3.6+ with only built-in modules
• Storage: JSON file for persistent data
• Architecture: Object-oriented design with URLShortener class
• Dependencies: No external packages required (json, random, string, os, datetime)

The implementation follows the repository's guidelines with proper folder structure, comprehensive README documentation, and beginner-friendly code with clear comments and error handling.

Also includes a .gitignore file to prevent Python cache files from being committed to the repository.

Fixes #5.

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