On the other hand, we run into the problem of HTTP's inherent statelesness. The problem, in a nutshell, is that the web has no short-term memory whatsoever. As a result, a web application such as our personalization system can't rely on the web server to remember information specific to a user as they move from one web page to another within the site. A client-side cookie is a small chunk of data that is stored on the visitor's machine. We can store virtually any arbitrary data in a cookie, and the cookie will be associated only with our particular web site.
Cookies can expire when the user closes the browser, or they can persist on disk for longer periods.
Our aim, in using cookies for short-term memory, is to use them only during the browser session. Corp. All Rights Reserved.