Re: sessions - max number of variables before things get bad?

>I'm exploring sessions in PHP4 as I build a new site, and I have decided to rely on them more heavily than in the past. > >Basically, I'd like to set things up so that when someone logs into the site, all of their accounts variables are queried from a >database and loaded into session variables (we're talking about 50 variables, most just 1-3 words). Does this sound >reasonable for a relatively high traffic site? If I don't do this, then many of those variables will probably be queried from a >database more than once during a visit, which seems unnecessary when I can use session variables. > >Are there any guidelines on the performance penalty for using large numbers of session variables? Or is the affect so minute >that I really shouldn't worry about it? (especially compared to querying a database) You'll have to experiment to be sure cuz it depends a lot on your web/database server setup and, but I don't think 50 vars of a few words each is even close to excessive. That's just a "gut" reaction, though. Check out the http://php.net/set_session_save_handler function for the easiest description of how to integrate PHP sessions with your database. -- Visit the Zend Store at http://www.zend.com/store/ Wanna help me out? Like Music? Buy a CD: http://l-i-e.com/artists.htm Volunteer a little time: http://chatmusic.com/volunteer.htm