What are client and session variables?
Before we talk about client and session variables, we need to briefly discuss the HTTP protocol and cookies. That will help clarify how ColdFusion tracks users.The HTTP protocol consists of a request-response pair. When a browser requests a webpage from a server, the server’s response is to find the webpage on its hard drive and then send the file back to the browser. When the browser parses (reads) the webpage and finds there are references to 5 images, it then makes 5 subsequent requests to the server, one for each image. Those 5 requests are then fulfilled by the server finding the images on its hard drive and sending them back to the browser. The browser then uses the 6 files to display the webpage on the monitor.All of this happens very quickly and helps to hide the fact that displaying one webpage can be the result of a large number of HTTP request-response pairs.Each request that a browser makes to a server is said to be “stateless”.
Before we talk about client and session variables, we need to briefly discuss the HTTP protocol and cookies. That will help clarify how ColdFusion tracks users. The HTTP protocol consists of a request-response pair. When a browser requests a webpage from a server, the server’s response is to find the webpage on its hard drive and then send the file back to the browser. When the browser parses (reads) the webpage and finds there are references to 5 images, it then makes 5 subsequent requests to the server, one for each image. Those 5 requests are then fulfilled by the server finding the images on its hard drive and sending them back to the browser. The browser then uses the 6 files to display the webpage on the monitor. All of this happens very quickly and helps to hide the fact that displaying one webpage can be the result of a large number of HTTP request-response pairs. Each request that a browser makes to a server is said to be “stateless”. That is to say, the server doesn’t track a
