PHP script: Cookie and session variable comparison

Last update on May 29 2025 13:08:56 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

16. Set Cookie and Session Variable with Same Name

Write a PHP script to set a cookie and a session variable with the same name. Display their values to compare.

Sample Solution:

PHP Code :

<?php
// Set the session save path
session_save_path('i:/custom/');
$cookieName = "myCookie";
$value = "Cookie Value";

// Set the cookie
setcookie($cookieName, $value, time() + 3600, "/");

// Start the session
session_start();

// Set the session variable
$_SESSION[$cookieName] = $value;

// Display the cookie value
echo "Cookie value: " . $_COOKIE[$cookieName] . "
";

// Display the session variable value
echo "Session variable value: " . $_SESSION[$cookieName];

?>

Sample Output:

Cookie value: Cookie Value
Session variable value: Cookie Value

Explanation:

In the above exercise -

We define the cookie name as $cookieName and the value as $value ("Example Value").
Use setcookie() to set the cookie with the specified name, value, expiration time (1 hour in this example), and path ("/" to make it accessible on the entire domain).
Start the session using session_start() to initialize the session.
Set the session variable with the same name as the cookie using $_SESSION[$cookieName] = $value.
Display the cookie value using $_COOKIE[$cookieName].
Display the session variable value using $_SESSION[$cookieName].

Flowchart:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

Write a PHP script to set both a cookie and a session variable with the same name, then display their values to highlight differences.
Write a PHP function to assign a value to a cookie and a session variable with an identical key and compare how they are accessed in different scopes.
Write a PHP program to test retrieval of a cookie and session variable sharing the same name and document the order of precedence.
Write a PHP script to set a cookie and a session variable with the same identifier and output their values for debugging purposes.

Go to:

PREV : Display Last Session Access Time.
NEXT : PHP OOP Exercises Home.

PHP Code Editor:

Contribute your code and comments through Disqus.