HTTP cookie: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:08, 29 May 2011

Revision as of 17:24, 29 May 2011

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{{HTTP}}

A '''cookie''', also known as a '''webHTTP cookie''', '''browserweb cookie''', andor '''HTTPbrowser cookie''', is a piece of [[text string|text]] stored on a [[User (computing)|user]]'s computer by their [[web browser]]. A cookie can be used for [[authentication]], storing site preferences, [[Shopping cart software|shopping cart]] contents, the identifier for a server-based [[http session|session]], or anything else that can be accomplished through storing text data.

A cookie consists of one or more [[Attribute-value pair|name-value pairs]] containing bits of information, which may be [[Encryption|encrypted]] for [[information privacy]] and [[data security]] purposes. The cookie is sent as a [[List of HTTP header fields|field in the header]] of the [[Hypertext Transfer Protocol|HTTP response]] by a [[web server]] to a [[web browser]] and then sent back unchanged by the browser each time it accesses that server.