Session vs cookie decision in PHP - Interactive Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to start a session in PHP.

PHP

<?php
[1]();
?>

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Asession_start

Bcookie_start

Cstart_session

Dinit_session

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using cookie_start() instead of session_start()

Misspelling the function name

In PHP, session_start() is used to begin a session.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to set a cookie named 'user' with value 'Alice' that expires in 1 hour.

PHP

<?php
setcookie('user', 'Alice', time() [1] 3600);
?>

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A-

B/

C*

D+

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using subtraction which sets expiration in the past

Using multiplication or division which is incorrect here

To set a cookie expiration 1 hour from now, add 3600 seconds to current time.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code to check if a cookie named 'user' exists.

PHP

<?php
if (isset($_COOKIE[1])) {
    echo 'User cookie is set';
}
?>

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A{'user'}

B('user')

C['user']

D<'user'>

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using parentheses or curly braces instead of square brackets

Not quoting the cookie name

To access a cookie value, use square brackets with the cookie name as a string key.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to store and retrieve a session variable named 'username'.

PHP

<?php
session_start();
$_SESSION[1] = 'Bob';
echo $_SESSION[2];
?>

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A['username']

B('username')

C{'username'}

D<'username'>

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using parentheses or curly braces instead of square brackets

Not quoting the key name

Session variables are accessed using square brackets with the variable name as a string.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to decide when to use a session or a cookie for storing user data.

PHP

<?php
// Use session when data is [1] and cookie when data is [2]
// Example:
if ($data_is_sensitive) {
    session_start();
    $_SESSION[3] = 'secret';
} else {
    setcookie('info', 'public', time() + 3600);
}
?>

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Atemporary

Bpersistent

Csecure

Dnon-sensitive

E['user_data']

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Confusing when to use session vs cookie

Incorrect syntax for session variable key

Sessions are used for secure (sensitive) data that should not persist on client side. Cookies are for non-sensitive data that can persist.

The session variable key should be a string in square brackets.