What does "stateful" mean in programming?
stateful is one of the most common terms in software development. This guide explains what it means, how it is used in practice, and why it matters, with real examples from the developer world.
Definition
A design where the server stores information about the client's state between requests. Stateful systems remember previous interactions. Databases, WebSocket connections, and session-based authentication are stateful. Stateful services are harder to scale because requests from the same client must go to the same server.
Example
"WebSocket connections are stateful: the server holds the connection open and remembers which user it belongs to."
Related terms
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