What are the advantages and disadvantages of using cookies versus sessions for parameter passing in PHP?

When deciding between using cookies or sessions for parameter passing in PHP, it is important to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Cookies are stored on the client side and can persist even after the browser is closed, making them suitable for long-term parameter storage. However, cookies can be manipulated by the user and may pose security risks. Sessions, on the other hand, store data on the server side and are more secure, but they are temporary and will be lost once the session expires.

// Using sessions for parameter passing
session_start();

// Set a session variable
$_SESSION['user_id'] = 123;

// Retrieve the session variable
$user_id = $_SESSION['user_id'];

// Destroy the session when it is no longer needed
session_destroy();