Django — Sessions

What are Sessions?

Sessions store data on the server for each user, identified by a session ID in a cookie.

Session Settings

# settings.py
SESSION_ENGINE = 'django.contrib.sessions.backends.db'
SESSION_COOKIE_AGE = 1209600  # 2 weeks in seconds
SESSION_SAVE_EVERY_REQUEST = False

Using Sessions in Views

def my_view(request):
    # Set session data
    request.session['username'] = 'john'
    request.session['last_visit'] = datetime.now().isoformat()
    
    # Get session data
    username = request.session.get('username', 'Guest')
    
    # Delete session data
    del request.session['username']
    
    # Flush session
    request.session.flush()

Session Methods

Method	Description
get(key, default)	Get value
set(key, value)	Set value
pop(key)	Get and delete
keys()	All keys
items()	All items
clear()	Clear all
flush()	Delete session
exists(session_key)	Check if exists

Session in Templates

{% if request.session.username %}
    <p>Welcome, {{ request.session.username }}!</p>
{% endif %}

Mini Practice

1. Store and retrieve session data
2. Use session for user preferences
3. Clear session on logout
4. Check session expiration

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