How Browser Cookies Work
the working of different types of browser cookies in a simple and easy to follow manner.
The (browser cookie, Internet cookie, web cookie or HTTP cookie) is a small piece of data that websites store on your hard disk in the form of a text file. Cookies allow websites to store specific information helpful to remember each visitor uniquely.
A cookie is set when the user visits a particular website for the first time. Thereafter, each time the user loads the website the browser sends the cookie back to the web server so that it can keep track of the user’s previous activity.
What the Purpose:
- It is automatic user log-in thereby eliminating the need for a password input
- The user experience by storing user preferences User can look different for each visitor
- The way of items in the shopping cart
- Record user’s activity such as browsing history, click patter
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Structure of a Cookie
- Name of the cookie
- Value/Content of the cookie
- Domain associated with the cookie
- Path for which the cookie is valid
- Attribute to specify whether the cookie requires a secure connection
- Attribute specifying whether the cookie can be accessed by a script
- Expiry information of the cookie