RabbitMQ

DataGrid, DataList or Repeater

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa479015.aspx


When displaying data in an ASP.NET Web page, many Web developers choose the data Web control they are most familiar with, which is typically the DataGrid. However, such blind decisions are not wise as there is no universally "best" data Web control. Rather, when deciding what data Web control to use for a given Web page, ask yourself a variety of questions to determine which control is best suited for the task at hand. Do you want to allow the user to sort through the data? Does the data need to be presented in a format other than an HTML <table>? Will this page be heavily visited, thereby making performance a key concern?

The DataGrid Web control provides the greatest feature set of the three data Web controls, with its ability to allow the end-user to sort, page, and edit its data. The DataGrid is also the simplest data Web control to get started with, as using it requires nothing more than adding a DataGrid to the Web page and writing a few lines of code. The ease of use and impressive features comes at a cost, though, namely that of performance: the DataGrid is the least efficient of the three data Web controls, especially when placed within a Web form.

With its templates, the DataList provides more control over the look and feel of the displayed data than the DataGrid. Using templates, however, typically requires more development time than using the DataGrid's column types. The DataList also supports inline editing of data, but requires a bit more work to implement than the DataGrid. Unfortunately, providing paging and sorting support in the DataList is not a trivial exercise. Making up for these lacking built-in features, the DataList offers better performance over the DataGrid.

Finally, the Repeater control allows for complete and total control of the rendered HTML markup. With the Repeater, the only HTML emitted are the values of the databinding statements in the templates along with the HTML markup specified in the templates—no "extra" HTML is emitted, as with the DataGrid and DataList. By requiring the developer to specify the complete generated HTML markup, the Repeater often requires the longest development time. Furthermore, the Repeater does not offer built-in editing, sorting, or paging support. However, the Repeater does boast the best performance of the three data Web controls. Its performance is comparable to the DataList's, but noticeably better than the DataGrid's.

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