What to you choose between mySQL or SESSSIONS to continue with my page?

Scenario No 1

On page1.php I use php with MySQL to get a product's data to the page. When a user wants to proceed to page, 2 he clicks on a button.

On page2.php there is also some info about the product, mainly for checkout purposes. For this data to be displayed I make use of the ID of the product so page2.ph开发者_高级运维p is actually page2.php?id=123. Therefore, using again PHP and MySQL I get the data I need.

Scenario No 2

On page1.php I use php with MySQL to get a product's data to the page. The needed values for page2.php are stored in sessions. When a user wants to proceed to page 2, he clicks on a button.

On page2.php now, the information about the product is shown using sessions. This time page2.php is actually page2.php that it is shown on the address bar.

I prefer doing this with scenario 1. The user will be able to copy/paste or send through a button the page to a friend for direct access. I don't think that one more hit to the db is a problem.

What is your opinion ?

I would agree that scenario 1 is better. You should use a session for its intended purpose, carrying state of a particular user, not misuse it as some form of caching mechanims in my opinion.

That's why you use the database in the first place - to have efficient access to your data. Why try to build a cache around the thing that should actually improve the efficiency if used?

If access ever becomes a bottleneck and you really need to look into caching, then there are still better mechanisms than to use your session for this purpose.

No. 1 is definitely the better approach. The second approach would only make sense if the product is attached to the user's session (for instance, when going through an order wizard). And even then, it's still better to just attach the product ID to the session, and fetch the product information from the database on each new page.