[Tutor] Python

[Alan Gauld]

CC'd to the tutor list to ensure widest possible response.

> Is there a way (with python) the store a users  identity (URL,
domain, IP,
> etc.) in a variable when they visit your  website?

OK, I guess you need to define what you mean by identity.
And that's not so easy.

For example what do you think a users "URL" would look like?
Can you give an example of what you think I should be able
to record if you were to visit my web tutor say?

IP address will locate the PC that the user is using,
and possibly sharing. The domain will be from the
service provider and is implicit in the IP address.

> Yes, this can be done with cookies,

ONly if the user tells you their ID by, say, logging on. You can
then save their ID back to their browser in a cookie. But if the
user doesn't tell you who they are in the first place then a cookie
won't help you find out!

Personal privacy is a big issue on the web and the standards
do try to protect it. So while you might be able to identify
a returning IP address(*), its very hard to be sure who the
user is. That's why cookies were invented!

(*)And if the PC is on a network with DHCP you can't even be
sure the same IP address means it's the same PC...

> which isn't hard at all to learn because programming
> concepts are similar.

Absolutely, thats why my tutor teaches 3 at a time :-)

Alan G.