Edit in JSFiddle

function main(){
    var imaginaryUrl = "http://example.com/webapp/?search=how%20to%20use%20Google&the_answer=42",
        qs = new QuerystringTable(imaginaryUrl);

    urlbox.innerHTML = "url: " + imaginaryUrl;
    
    logButton(
        "qs.getKeys()",
        qs.getKeys()
        .map(arrowify)
        .join("\n")
    );
    
    logButton(
        'qs.getValue("search")',
        qs.getValue("search")
        .arrowify()
    );
    
    logButton(
        'qs.getValue("the_answer")',
        qs.getValue("the_answer")
        .arrowify()
    );
    
    logButton(
        "qs.getQuerystring()",
        qs.getQuerystring()
        .arrowify()
    );
}

function arrowify(str){
    return "  -> " + str;
}

String.prototype.arrowify = function(){
    return arrowify(this);
}

function log(msg){
    txt.value += msg + '\n';
    txt.scrollTop = txt.scrollHeight;
}

function logButton(name, output){
    var el = document.createElement("button");
    
    el.innerHTML = name;
    
    el.onclick = function(){
        log(name);
        log(output);
        log("- - - -");
    }
    
    buttonContainer.appendChild(el);
}

function QuerystringTable(_url){
    // private
    var url = _url,
        table = {};

    function buildTable(){
        getQuerystring().split('&').filter(validatePair).map(parsePair);
    }

    function parsePair(pair){
        var splitPair = pair.split('='),
            key       = decodeURIComponent(splitPair[0]),
            value     = decodeURIComponent(splitPair[1]);

        table[key] = value;
    }

    function validatePair(pair){
        var splitPair = pair.split('=');

        return !!splitPair[0] && !!splitPair[1];
    }

    function validateUrl(){
        if(typeof url !== "string"){
            throw "QuerystringTable() :: <string url>: expected string, got " + typeof url;
        }

        if(url == ""){
            throw "QuerystringTable() :: Empty string given for argument <string url>";
        }
    }

    // public
    function getKeys(){
        return Object.keys(table);
    }

    function getQuerystring(){
        var string;

        validateUrl();
        string = url.split('?')[1];

        if(!string){
            string = url;
        }

        return string;
    }

    function getValue(key){
        var match = table[key] || null;

        if(!match){
            return "undefined";
        }

        return match;
    }

    buildTable();
    this.getKeys        = getKeys;
    this.getQuerystring = getQuerystring;
    this.getValue       = getValue;
}

main();

<p id="urlbox"></p>
<textarea id="txt" disabled="true"></textarea>
<div id="buttonContainer"></div>

#urlbox{
    width: 100%;
    padding: 5px;
    margin: 10px auto;
    font: 12px monospace;
    background: #fff;
    color: #000;
}

#txt{
    width: 100%;
    height: 200px;
    padding: 5px;
    margin: 10px auto;
    resize: none;
    border: none;
    background: #fff;
    color: #000;
    displaY:block;
}

button{
    padding: 5px;
    margin: 10px;
    width: 200px;
    background:#eee;
    color: #000;
    border:1px solid #ccc;
    display: block;
}

button:hover{
    background: #fff;
    cursor: pointer;
}