Cookies on Internet

It sounds very exciting when we talk about cookies, are they chocolate chip cookies or butter scotch cookies??? Well no, we are talking about the COOKIES ON INTERNET. So what is a cookie??When a web server stores a piece of text on the hard disk of the computer, which was visiting the server, that piece of text is called as a cookie. Physically it is usually a name followed by a value, and these are very often in pairs. A common man often considers a cookie to be program, which is put on to the user’s hard disk to monitor his activities, whereas this particular idea is just a myth. Cookies are not capable to deducing any such kind of information in reality
How do cookies work
Well the following is the sequence of events that take place to get a cookie to function and work
When we want to browse a particular URL, we type in the URL of that particular website into our browser, and in turn the browser sends a request to the website to gain access for the same.
Now when the information from our browser has reached the other end, then at that instant the website server will start scanning our machine to look for a unique identity that is a cookie, but since let us consider that this is our first visit to the website, there will be no cookies in store, hence our machine sends back a nil data.
So once this data is received, the website knows that you are visiting them for the first time, and assigns us with a unique identity which is usually a name and a value. So this is how the first cookie is created.
· Now let us suppose that we visit the same page again the next day, but this time, when the server scans our machine, it will be able to trace out a unique id, that is the cookie, thus informing the server that we had visited you earlier. And the server then uses the information for various purposes, to count the number of hits, to determine any expiry date, if you are using a trail pack etc

Applications of cookies

Because of caching, proxy servers etc, it was not possible to maintain a database of records to see the performance of a websites, cookies came in as help then, and have sorted out this problem. The main applications are the below mentioned though.
· Keep a count of the number of visitors.
· Determine the frequency of each visitor.
· Maintain record to see how web trafficking can be increased with new visitors, and compare data.
· Customization of websites, by gathering cookie information, example is changing the colors of your yahoo mail box.
· E-Commerce, finds this data very useful, since all the data in the shopping cart would revert back to the cookie that is the unique identity thus making tracking easier.
Disadvantages of Cookies
Cookies though seem to have been very helpful with their uniqueness pose many a problems too and thus have their own drawbacks.
When you are using a shared machine, one can even commit fraud . Very often we see the banking sites asking us to close the browser on machines once you are done with your session, since someone may just misuse this facility, and so now banking also has become more secure, when most of the banking sites do not allow you to go back.
· Sometimes we see that our browsing facility has become very slow, so usually what we do is delete all the offline content, all the history, all the cookies, so the next time you log on a website, there will be no ping from our end, thus causing the web server to assign us another unique identity, thus causing an error when it comes to keeping a track of the number of visitors .
· Also, it is never mandatory for me to use just one machine, sometimes, I may have a power supply problem, and I might just turn up at a close by internet café, else, I may log on to my lap top when traveling, or may be I am at office, then what, I am a single person using so many different machines, so again the credibility of the count of visitors is under question. To tackle this, many websites have user identity etc.
· The possibility of your personal information being sold too when you are into online purchase is very high. Since the seller can always sell your information to other marketing agents.
· Spying is a greatest disadvantage in here.

So cookies though so unique have their own set of problems, but then with every problem, technology has always been able to find a counter solution, right now the cookie problems is dealt with implementing very strong security measures. Strong Fire walling etc. Thus keeping intact the basic purpose of having a cookie