Storing State in Sessions

storing_state

1. What's the difference between a cookie and a session?
  A cookie is a string of data that is set on response to be stored on client. It works as an encrypted data package used for managing communication.
  
  A session is more like an object that exists on the request

2. What's serialization and how does it come into play with cookies?
  Object --> string  (Cookies serialize data)

3. Can a cookie be shared by more than one user? How/why?
  Yes, if both users are on the same client. (But really shouldn't be)

4. What would it mean to store a shopping cart in a cookie?
  It would mean that the shopping cart could be highjacked, but it would be much faster, though you lose cross device access

5. What advantages/disadvantages are there between cookie-stored carts and
database-stored carts?

  Cookie is fast, but limited, database is slower but protected
  Cookie stored carts are not permanent...
  Cookie stored carts are used only by server...?