Thane Morgan wrote:
> OK, you seem to know what they are. Why use them? what do they do that
> couldn't already be done?
>
Because a web server has no idea where you have been on the page before
you got to the page that it is sending to you right then. This is
called "stateless", in that it doesn't know what "state" you are in
while you are visiting that web site.
I don't use cookies on the Epic side of my web site, I use the crap of
them on the "adult" side, so that I can
1) block book marking
2) keep track of what the last set of images the users requested, so
that my "Next page" and "Previous Page" flags work correctly
3) Keeping track as to what the user is looking for, in the case of data
base look up that result in more than can be shown on one web page.
Other uses (not that I use, but people do use them for)
Shopping baskets. (GW uses them for that on their site)
Traffic counts (i.e. number of hits from a given IP address. There a
better ways of doing that one, as it happens)
Customizing what the user sees on the web site (let you chose your
colors, what info you want, etc. I may start doing that)
Again the major reason to use them is because HTTP is stateless and the
a server can't tell what you have done before. They are an "ad hockey"
fix to a design oversight.
--
Sillyness is the last refuse of the doomed. P. Opus
http://www.spellbooksoftware.com
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Received on Fri Mar 20 1998 - 17:05:04 UTC