Cookie-based sessions vs database sessions in Django - Hands-On Comparison

Cookie-based Sessions vs Database Sessions in Django

📖 Scenario: You are building a simple Django web app that tracks user visits using sessions. You want to understand how to set up cookie-based sessions and database sessions, and see how Django handles session data differently in each case.

🎯 Goal: Build a Django project that first uses cookie-based sessions to store a visit count, then switch to database sessions to store the same data. Learn how to configure session engines and access session data in views.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a Django view that increments a visit count stored in the session

Configure Django to use cookie-based sessions

Change configuration to use database sessions

Verify session data is stored and retrieved correctly in both modes

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Web apps often track user data like login status or preferences using sessions. Understanding different session backends helps choose the best storage for security and scalability.

💼 Career

Django developers must configure and manage sessions securely. Knowing cookie vs database sessions is essential for building reliable user experiences.

1

Set up a Django view to track visits using sessions

Create a Django view function called visit_counter that uses request.session to increment a session variable visits. Initialize visits to 1 if it does not exist. Return an HttpResponse with the text showing the number of visits.

Django

from django.http import HttpResponse

def visit_counter(request):
    # Your code here

Need a hint?

Use request.session.get('visits', 0) to read the current count, then add 1 and save it back.

2

Configure Django to use cookie-based sessions

In your Django settings.py, set the session engine to 'django.contrib.sessions.backends.signed_cookies' by assigning SESSION_ENGINE = 'django.contrib.sessions.backends.signed_cookies'.

Django

from django.http import HttpResponse

def visit_counter(request):
    visits = request.session.get('visits', 0) + 1
    request.session['visits'] = visits
    return HttpResponse(f"Number of visits: {visits}")

# Set SESSION_ENGINE to cookie-based sessions below
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Set SESSION_ENGINE exactly to 'django.contrib.sessions.backends.signed_cookies' in settings.py.

3

Switch Django to use database sessions

Change the SESSION_ENGINE setting in settings.py to 'django.contrib.sessions.backends.db' to store session data in the database.

Django

from django.http import HttpResponse

def visit_counter(request):
    visits = request.session.get('visits', 0) + 1
    request.session['visits'] = visits
    return HttpResponse(f"Number of visits: {visits}")

# Change SESSION_ENGINE to database sessions below
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Set SESSION_ENGINE exactly to 'django.contrib.sessions.backends.db' in settings.py.

4

Complete setup by running migrations for database sessions

Run Django migrations to create the session table by adding django.contrib.sessions to INSTALLED_APPS if not present, then run python manage.py migrate sessions to create the session table.

Django

from django.http import HttpResponse

def visit_counter(request):
    visits = request.session.get('visits', 0) + 1
    request.session['visits'] = visits
    return HttpResponse(f"Number of visits: {visits}")

SESSION_ENGINE = 'django.contrib.sessions.backends.db'

# Add 'django.contrib.sessions' to INSTALLED_APPS and run migrations
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Make sure 'django.contrib.sessions' is in INSTALLED_APPS list in settings.py.