Keep session IDs out of URLs unless you really need them there

Of my most viewed blog posts on effective web design, the most popular contunues to be those dealing with URL aesthetics. I've now developed a legitimate beef centered around this topic.

One thing that's now irritating me are ASP, JSP, PHP and ASP.NET developers who incessantly and for no apparent purpose append an app's session ID to their URLs. This I don't get. I've only ever put such a unique string in a URL, using a GUID to keep track of specific records submitted by unique users in a NCAA March Madness app I did this year. And I wasn't proud of having to use that particular construct.

Like everything on the Web, it's probably got its place - functionally if not pleasing to the eye - but there are better ways to do things. Most peope I've talked to don't even need it....the page can be viewed just fine by lopping the session ID data off.