Session management is a crucial aspect of web application development, especially when it comes to maintaining user authentication and state across multiple requests. In this section, we will explore the best practices and common methods for managing sessions in our applications.

What is a Session?

A session is a way to store information (in variables) to be used across multiple pages. Typically, a session is used to store information about a user to be used on multiple pages.

Types of Sessions

  • Client-side Sessions: Store data on the client's browser using cookies.
  • Server-side Sessions: Store data on the server and send a session identifier to the client.

Best Practices

  1. Use Secure Cookies: Always use HTTPS to encrypt the data sent between the client and server.
  2. Session Expiry: Implement session expiry to prevent unauthorized access.
  3. Session Regeneration: Regenerate the session ID after login to prevent session hijacking.

Common Methods

Using Cookies

To manage sessions using cookies, you can use the following code snippet:

// Set a cookie
res.cookie('name', 'value', { httpOnly: true, secure: true });

// Get a cookie
req.cookies.name;

Using Sessions

To manage sessions using sessions, you can use the following code snippet:

// Start a session
app.use(session({ secret: 'secret', resave: false, saveUninitialized: true }));

// Set a session variable
req.session.user = 'John Doe';

// Get a session variable
req.session.user;

For more detailed information on session management, you can refer to our Session Management Guide.

Session Management Illustration

If you have any further questions or need assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team.