Difference between cookies, session and tokens

What are cookies, sessions, and tokens? Most web servers use cookies to send the session-ID after you log in.
🔻 Click on SHOW MORE 🔻

So the server will store the session information in the database while you will only have the session id in a cookie, which is stored in the filesystem of your computer.

Next time you request another page, your browser will automatically send a cookie containing your sessionId, which the server will check to see if it is valid.

The session-ID is randomly generated and should be hard to guess. If you log out, the session will be deleted on the server, but also the server will instruct the browser to delete the cookie containing the session-ID.

An alternative to this is to store information on the client and sign it. In this scenario, anyone holding the signature can quickly check if the data was manipulated or not. One way to do this is to use JSON Web Tokens (JWT tokens).

Let's now assume that you want to install an app on your phone, which can help you with your finances and keep track of your spendings. What you don't want to do is to give your username and password to this app, which was not created by your bank. This is when access tokens are being used to grant access to your data.

Technologies mentioned in this video:

#cookies #sessions #tokens
--

⭐️ Additional explanation ⭐️

[1] In the example shown, the user transitioned from a not-logged-in state (one session id) to a logged-in state (new session id). This is why you see two cookies. Make sure you check the HTTP requests for the Set-Cookie and Cookie headers.

[2] While both the Cookie/Set-Cookie and Authorization are headers, a browser will always treat the Cookie/Set-Cookie differently.

If this was helpful and you want to support me create more videos like this one, please consider subscribing.

--

⭐️ Video contents ⭐️

⌨️ 00:00 - Login example with cookies
⌨️ 05:26 - Recap: cookies and sessions
⌨️ 06:06 - Token-based authentication
⌨️ 09:20 - Difference between tokens vs session cookie
⌨️ 11:00 - Conclusion

--

⭐️ 💬 I have a question. ⭐️

I do my best to answer all comments here on YouTube but I cannot make any guarantees.

Please do not email me or contact me on other channels as I might not be able to answer. Sorry!

--

⭐️ 💡 I have a video idea ⭐️

Do you want me to create a video on a specific topic? Just fill out the form below:

--

⭐️ 📩 Contact & Imprint ⭐️

👉 Follow me on Twitter:

👉 Follow me on Medium:

👉 Follow me on Facebook:

👉 Let's connect on LinkedIn:

[vdespa]

P.S. Thanks for all your kind comments and sorry for the annoying background music!

[chia-anyang]

Had been confused for their difference for so long. Thank you for the clear explanation!!

[thehowerd]

Excellent work man! I feel like this explanation was much easier to understand than reading the documentation. Also, I'm really digging the graphics and animations!

[ioana]

I started with your Agile courses, now I am learning Postman with you. You're an awesome trainer!

[djeksrm]

The clearest video about cookie imo.
Thanks a lot!

[wqnjonz]

First video to help with the topic!! please KEEP DOING MORE ^_^

[be_like_vishnoi]

Learning through virtual representations is the best way to remember concepts for a long time, Great work!

[jacobshade]

Thank you! This was the only short video example I could find on the use cases of tokens

[deleted]

I would pay anything to see more content like this. Thank you, u' the best bro.

[bholanathm]

Earlier i completed a tutorial of yours in Udemy on rest apis and it was also very well explained. This video is the first one of yours i'm watching in YouTube and it is so nice.. anybody can understand it. This video deserves a 1000 likes and comment!! Thank you very much!!

[void]

thanks a lot for this video. It was very concise, to the point and very easy to understand. Will definitely checkout your other videos as well. Thanks again

[azlanuza]

Simplified, clear and informative. Thanks for sharing.

[Sandywf]

Awesome explanation...put all the concepts/terminologies clearly on the table so that can easily differentiate between these terms.. subscribed immediately.... Kudos

[knightjaz]

Thank you for the detailed yet simple to understand explanation.

[SalakotPhilippines]

Thank you Valentin, currently some of this is clear now to me, thank your for uploading this kind of informative video in a concise manner.

[__priyanshu__sharma____]

I was confused so much on this topic . But after watching this i am thinking why so many youtubers made this topics so confusing expect you . The best explanation of cookies, Session and tokens.. Thank you so much.

[andronasef]

Very easy to understand. good animation. best voice over.
Thx Valentin.

[drinks.a]

Great Job Valentin! Very well explained and easy to learn! Thanks a lot!

[ifaceTech]

Great channel, I've learned a lot. You're very clear and to the point.

[malcolmlagares]

What a great video. Excellent work. Thank you so much. I'm going to watch this multiple times. I've liked and subscribed based on this video alone. . . Thank you.