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Be Aware about The Web Browser Cookies and It's Functions

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When you are go through the news every now and then, you've probably heard of cookies on the internet.Cookies are small files which are saved from a user's computer. They are designed to hold a quiet amount of data specific to a particular client and website, and can be accessed either by the web server or the client computer. This allows the server to deliver a page tailored to a particular use or the page itself can contain some script which is aware of the data on to the cookie so is able to carry information about one visit to the website (or related site) to the next.

For example, assume selecting a certain language for a website you'd visit. You'd tell the website: "Hey, I would like to view your website in, say, Tamil." The website would then save that information to a little document - a cookie on your computer. The next time you'd visit that website, it would be able to read the cookie it saved earlier. That way, the website could 'recall' your language and let you view the website in Tamil, without you having to select your language again.

What's in a Cookie?
Each cookie is effectively a small lookup table containing pairs of (key, data) values - for example (first name,Jhon ) (last name, Abragam). Once cookie has been read by the code on the server or client computer, the data can be retrieved and used to customize the web page appropriately.

When Cookies Created?
Writing data onto a cookie is normally done when a new web page is loaded - for example after a 'submit' button is pressed the data handling page would be responsible for storing the value of a cookie. If the user has selected to disable cookies then the write operation will fail, and upcoming sites which rely on the cookie will either have to take a default action, or prompt the user to re-enter the information that would have been stored in the cookie.

What are the types of cookies?

There are two types of cookies, session cookies and persistent cookies. ,de

  1. Session cookies: Created temporarily in your browser's sub folder while you are visiting a website. Once you leave the site, the session cookie is deleted.
  2. Persistent cookies: Files remain in your browser's sub folder and are activated again once you visit the website that create that particular cookie. A persistent cookie remains in the browser's sub folder for the durationperiod set within the cookie's file.


Advantages of using cookies

Here are some of the advantages of using cookies to store session state.

  • Cookies are simple to use and implement.
  • Occupies less memory, do not require any server resources and are stored on the user's computer so no extra burden on server.
  • We can configure cookies to expire when the browser session ends (session cookies) or they can exist for a specified length of time on the client’s computer (persistent cookies).
  • Cookies persist a much longer period of time than Session state.


Disadvantages of using cookies
Here are some of the disadvantages:

  • Several limitations exist on the size of the cookie text(4kb in general), number of cookies(20 per site in general), etc.
  • User has the option of disabling cookies on his computer from browser’s setting .
  • Cookies will not work if the security level is set to high in the browser.
  • Users can delete a cookies.
  • Users browser can refuse cookies,so your code has to anticipate that possibility.
  • Complex type of data not allowed (e.g. data set etc). It allows only plain text (i.e. cookie allows only string content)


Delete and manage cookies

If you are very concern about your data you can delete and manage cookies in your browser.
Use these links according to your browser.



So is this a bad thing? Are cookies dangerous? That depends, really. It is up to the creators of a website to decide what information they do and do not store,and more essentially; what they use that information for. Cookies are a tool. Just like a knife, or a saw, they can be used for bad things, but they are intended to be used for good things. The responsibility lies with the people putting them to use.


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