Session expiry behavior in Django - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ component_behavior

intermediate

What happens when SESSION_COOKIE_AGE is set to 0?

In Django settings, if you set SESSION_COOKIE_AGE = 0, what will be the behavior of the session cookie in the browser?

A The session cookie will expire immediately and the user will be logged out on the next request.

B Django will raise a configuration error and refuse to start.

C The session cookie will never expire and remain valid indefinitely.

D The session cookie will behave like a browser-length cookie and expire when the browser is closed.

💡 Hint

Think about what a zero value means for cookie expiration in browsers.

Setting SESSION_COOKIE_AGE = 0 makes the session cookie a browser-length cookie. This means it will expire when the user closes the browser, not immediately or never.

❓ state_output

intermediate

What is the session expiry time after calling set_expiry(300)?

Given a Django view where request.session.set_expiry(300) is called, what is the session expiry behavior?

Django

def my_view(request):
    request.session.set_expiry(300)
    return HttpResponse('Hello')

A The session will expire after 300 seconds (5 minutes) from the last activity.

B The session will expire after 300 seconds from when the session was created, ignoring activity.

C The session will never expire because set_expiry disables expiration.

D The session will expire immediately because 300 is treated as False.

💡 Hint

Check Django docs on set_expiry with integer values.

Calling set_expiry(300) sets the session to expire 300 seconds after the last request that modified the session.

📝 Syntax

advanced

Which code snippet correctly sets a session to expire at browser close?

Select the Django code snippet that correctly sets the session to expire when the browser closes.

A request.session.set_expiry(-1)

B request.session.set_expiry('browser')

C request.session.set_expiry(None)

D request.session.set_expiry(0)

💡 Hint

Remember the special meaning of 0 in set_expiry.

Using set_expiry(None) sets the session to expire when the browser closes. Other values have different meanings or cause errors.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does session never expire despite set_expiry(10)?

A developer sets request.session.set_expiry(10) in a Django view, but the session never expires after 10 seconds. What is the most likely cause?

A The session cookie is set with a max-age of 0, overriding set_expiry.

B The SESSION_SAVE_EVERY_REQUEST setting is True, so expiry resets on every request.

C The server time is incorrect, causing expiry to fail.

D set_expiry only works with values greater than 60 seconds.

💡 Hint

Think about how SESSION_SAVE_EVERY_REQUEST affects session expiry.

If SESSION_SAVE_EVERY_REQUEST = True, the expiry time resets on every request, so the session never expires as long as the user keeps interacting.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

What error occurs if you call set_expiry with a string other than 'session' or 'never'?

In Django, what happens if you call request.session.set_expiry('invalid_string')?

A Raises a ValueError indicating invalid expiry value.

B Silently ignores the invalid value and keeps previous expiry.

C Raises a TypeError because string is not allowed.

D Sets the session to never expire regardless of the string.

💡 Hint

Check Django source or docs on allowed string values for set_expiry.

Django's set_expiry accepts only integers, None, or strings 'session' or 'never'. Any other string raises a ValueError.