But why call it a Cookie?
But why call it a Cookie?
In the physical world, a cookie is something we eat…but in the computer world, a cookie is something to store information on.
How does this make any sense? What is the analogy?
This is what Sudip Bhandari and I were discussing a couple of days back during our creative (mostly bullshit) talk session.
After discussing, arguing and researching for a while we finally found our answer:
The term “cookie” was coined by Lou Montulli, a programmer who worked at Netscape Communications in the mid-1990s. At the time, Montulli was developing the Netscape Navigator browser, and he needed a way to store small pieces of data on a user’s computer to help websites remember user preferences and other information.
Montulli was inspired by the idea of a “magic cookie,” a term used in the 1970s and 1980s in the context of computer programming. A magic cookie refers to a small piece of data that was passed between programs or systems to authenticate or identify a user.
Montulli liked the idea of using a similar concept in the context of web browsing, but he wanted a more friendly and approachable name. He decided to use the term “cookie,” which was inspired by the idea of a small, sweet treat that is easy to consume.
Montulli explained that he chose the term “cookie” because it was “a friendly, non-intimidating word” that seemed fitting for a technology that was designed to be helpful and convenient.
Hence, the term Fortune or Magic cookie was a perfect name for a thing which is used for storing a small secret message on the computer.
Do you know why your browser limits the number of concurrent network requests? Read the answer here.
Heard about the state in React? What about the regular websites? Do they have a state too? Find out here.
I hope you found this article useful. I would love to hear your thoughts. 😇
Thanks for reading. 😊
Cheers! 😃
If you find this article useful, you can show your appreciation by clicking on the clap button. As the saying goes, When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.
