[thelist] Which way is best? (was: Re: Homemade Shopping Cart Question)

[Rob Smith]

> I'll show you mine if you show me yours.  :-)

Well, I would if I could. The sensitivity of the information is pretty
sensitive. My initial hopes were to extract either examples, theories, or
implantations of a typical shopping cart system and removing items from the
shelf:

A) Do you store these items in a temporary table? Once the order is
complete, do you then go to that list and mark out the items on the real
table?

B) Do you store your information in cookies, by which not all browsers
support these? nor are locked down computers accept them?

C) Do you store your order in session variables and hope that your customer
doesn't take too long to shop around your store?

D) Do you use the "HttpSessionBindingListener, so if the transaction isn't
completed before the standard session timeout, (that) all products are then
returned to inventory as part of discarding the cart."

E) Do I go ahead and assume that if they add that unique item to the cart
that it is considered sold at that point? But as Jay had mentioned, their
cell phone rings and the have to bolt out of the store. Then some time later
an employee or program returns the item back to the shelf?

Obviously there is a difference of opinion here. Keep in mind that this is
only the tip of the ice burg of shopping cart implementations.

Curiously thinking, are you a program? But the underlying question is which
way is best?

Rob