What is PHPSESSID?

Question

I'm playing around with cookies. And I dont have any cookies called PHPSESSID.

Do i need it? Can i remove it?

Whats the "function" of it?

if (count($_POST)) {

setcookie("TestCookie", htmlspecialchars($_POST['val']), time()+3600);
}

print_r($_COOKIE);

Prints:

Array
(
    [TestCookie] => blabla
    [PHPSESSID] => el4ukv0kqbvoirg7nkp4dncpk3
)

Answer 1

It's the identifier for your current session in PHP. If you delete it, you won't be able to access/make use of session variables. I'd suggest you keep it.

Answer 2

PHP uses one of two methods to keep track of sessions. If cookies are enabled, like in your case, it uses them.

If cookies are disabled, it uses the URL.

Google for it, you will get lots of SEO advice. The conventional wisdom is that you should use the cookies, but php will keep track of the session either way.