php and sessions still current in web development?

[gregulator]

Are client side (cookies), and server side session validation still current in web development? I am developing a site with your typical user in a database structure and am wondering if much has changed in the past few years?

I did something similar a few years ago using php/MySQL, and maintaining session details on the client side (session_start), but it seems that most people now recommend doing it server side (obviously pros and cons with each).

1) Is this method still current, or am I totally missing the boat and there are much better ways to do this now?
2) Am I correct in that the way to do this server side (without cookies) is track the IP address of the user, and place the php sid in the URL (which is not the most secure for session hijacking)?

If the target is both desktop and mobile, what is the best way to manage sessions?

Thanks!

 

[Markbnj]

A lot has changed, but there are still quite a few sites that work that way, and php certainly is still widely used. It's hard to answer the question simply, if only because "website" so rarely captures the nature of Internet applications these days. Our most recent project doesn't use auth, but if it did it would follow the same general pattern as the rest of the site, which is an angular-based responsive design that renders almost 100% on the client and uses an API to access data and services.