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+<!--
+  ~ SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+  -->
+## Normalization and validation of `purl` components
+
+Components produced by a conforming PURL parser are already valid and normalized.  
+However, when components come from other sources, they may require additional normalization and validation.
+
+The following rules apply (all components are assumed to be in percent-decoded form):
+
+- **type**
+    - Convert to lowercase.
+    - Validate against the allowed character set: `[a-z0-9.-]`.
+
+- **namespace** as string:
+    - Split on `/`.
+    - Normalize and validate each segment.
+
+- **namespace** segments:
+    - Remove any empty segments.
+    - Apply type-specific normalization and validation.
+
+- **name**
+    - Apply type-specific normalization and validation.
+
+- **version**
+    - Apply type-specific normalization and validation.
+
+- **qualifiers**
+    - Discard key–value pairs with an empty `value`.
+    - For each pair:
+        - Convert `key` to lowercase.
+        - Validate `key` against the allowed character set: `[a-z0-9._-]`.
+
+- **subpath** as string:
+    - Split on `/`.
+    - Normalize and validate each segment.
+
+- **subpath** segments:
+  - Remove any segment that is empty, `.` or `..`.
+  - Apply type-specific normalization and validation.