How to handle multiple cookies with the same name?

Question

Say for example I had an application sending the following HTTP headers to set to cookie named "a":

Set-Cookie: a=1;Path=/;Version=1
Set-Cookie: a=2;Path=/example;Version=1

If I access /example on the server both paths are valid, so I have two cookies named "a"! Since the browser doesn't send any path information, the two cookies cannot be distinguished.

Cookie: a=2; a=1

How should this case be handled? Pick the first one? Create a list with all cookie values? Or should such a case be considered as a developer's mistake?

Answer 1

If you need to distinguish them you have to give them different key values.