When would you use localStorage versus cookies?
PICTURE THIS: A SENTENCE BECOMES TOKENS
The model does not read letters like humans. It reads these pieces, then predicts the next one.
Simple meaning
LocalStorage is for non-sensitive UI preferences, larger, and never sent automatically with requests.
WHY — Browser instead of guessing?
Why interviewers care about Browser:
contrast on Browser, not two memorised paragraphs.
the developer, then one case where picking wrong hurts.
Name the idea, why it exists, then one short example.
End with when you use it and one common pitfall.
STEPS — What happens with tokens?
Before the model can read a sentence, it goes through these steps:
- 1LocalStorage is for non-sensitive
UI preferences, larger, and never sent automatically with requests.
- 2Cookies can be HttpOnly
and sent on every matching request, which is how sessions work.
- 3I never store access
tokens in localStorage if XSS is a concern.
- 4Context mix
Attention looks at nearby tokens together.
- 5Next token
The model scores what should come next.
- 6Decode
IDs turn back into readable text.
EXAMPLE — See it in action
Let's see how a real sentence is tokenized (tokens may vary by model):
Note: Actual tokens and IDs depend on the tokenizer (e.g., GPT, Llama, etc.).
Key takeaway
LocalStorage is for non-sensitive UI preferences, larger, and never sent automatically with requests. Cookies can be HttpOnly and sent on every matching request, which is how sessions work.