Stateless Persistence

Cookies are conceptually simple. They are tiny text files written on the client's computer. Though they are written on the client's file system, it is the server (classically) that reads and writes the cookies.

The advantages to the software designer are great. The history of interacting with this client can be easily stored and recovered. For example (and this is the example we will use), the most recent login parameters can be saved and restored. But this is just a start. There are plenty of complex and subtle ways to use the power of persistence to create personalized web experiences.