What is the Difference Between localStorage and sessionStorage

The main difference between localStorage and sessionStorage is that the localStorage stores data with no expiration date, while the sessionStorage stores data from one session.

Almost all business organizations use websites to reach their customers and to inform them about the products and services they offer. The main language that helps to develop a website is HTML, which stands for HyperText Markup Language. It helps to build the structure of the webpages. All other web technologies, such as CSS and JavaScript are based on HTML. Furthermore, there are various versions of HTML. The latest version of HTML is HTML5. It provides extra features such as SVG, audio, video, canvas, geolocation, etc. HTML5 also provides two web storage capabilities which allow the web application to store data locally within the user’s browser. It is more secure and allows storing a large amount of data without affecting the performance of the website. Moreover, localStorage and sessionStorage are two web storage objects for storing data on the client machine.  

Key Areas Covered

1. What is localStorage
     –Definition, Functionality
2. What is sessionStorage
     -Definition, Functionality
3. Difference Between localStorage and sessionStorage
    -Comparison of key differences

Key Terms

HTML5, localStorage, sessionStorage, Web Storage

Difference Between localStorage and sessionStorage - Comparison Summary

What is localStorage

The localStorage is an object that helps to store data with no expiration date. Therefore, this data will not be deleted even the browser is closed. In other words, the user can access a page’s local storage without any time limit.  So, it is possible to obtain data the next day or after a week or a year.

Difference Between localStorage and sessionStorage

Refer to the below code.

localStorage.setItem(“firstname”, “Ann”);

document.getElementById(“result1”).innerHTML = localStorage.getItem(“firstname”);

The above code creates a local storage with name and value pair. The name is “firstname” while the value is “Ann”. The second line helps to obtain the value of the firstname and insert it into the element with the id called result1.

Furthermore, it is possible to remove the “firstname” localStorage item as follows.

localStorage.removeItem(“firstname”);

What is sessionStorage

The functionality of the sessionStorage is similar to localStorage, but it stores data only for one session. Therefore, the data is deleted when the user closes the browser tab. So, it helps to add data to the session storage. It is possible to access it by any page from the same site opened in that window. Once the user closes the window, the session is lost. Likewise, the sessionStorage object allows string data of a specific session.

Difference Between localStorage and sessionStorage

Definition

localStorage is a type of web storage object available in HTML 5 that allows storing data with no expiration date. In contrast, sessionStorage is a type of web storage object available in HTML 5 that allows storing data for one session.

Usage

Moreover, localStorage is designed for storage that spans multiple windows, and it lasts beyond the current session. On the other hand, sessionStorage allows the user to carry out a single transaction but could be carrying out multiple transactions in different windows at the same time.

Conclusion

In brief, HTML 5 web storage provides two storage objects for storing data on the client machine: localStorage and sessionStorage. They help to store a large amount of data locally than a regular cookie. However, the main difference between localStorage and sessionStorage is that the localStorage stores data with no expiration date, while the sessionStorage stores data from one session.

References:

1.HTML5 Web Storage, Available here.
2.Tutorialspoint.com. “HTML5 Web Storage.” Www.tutorialspoint.com, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1.”HTML5 official logo” By W3C (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia

About the Author: Lakna

Lakna, a graduate in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, is a Molecular Biologist and has a broad and keen interest in the discovery of nature related things. She has a keen interest in writing articles regarding science.

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