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ASP.NET Web Forms vs ASP.NET MVC

Choosing the right programming modal (Web Forms/ MVC) for ASP.NET project really depends on lot of factors like project requirements, the knowledge of the team, the time duration set for the project etc. What I’m trying to discuss in this article is providing a brief overview of how to decide what programming modal should be use for your project.
Below are some situations and point out what modal would be the ideal choice.

  • You need friendly URLs for SEO – Since the MVC have a default URL routing logic, MVC will make it easier. If you use WebForms, you would have to write the routing logic.
  • Performance – Performance wise, MVC is better than WebForms. That’s mainly because MVC does not make use of ViewState which carry a lot of information to the server.
  • You need a good control of the UI – There is a much more control over the UI if you use MVC over WebForms. MVC will allow developers to create the UI independently from the server code.
  • You need a good separation of the UI and server side code – Since MVC works as Modal-View-Controller, it allows developers to work independently of the server side code and UI. This comes very useful if the UI is going to be designed by a web designer and server side code is going to develop by a web developer. If you use WebForms, it’s not possible (Or at least, really hard) to work on a one page by many people because it tightly couples with the code behind file.
  • Rapid Application Development – If the project is about developing it as soon as you can and if you don’t have to care much about performance, then WebForms would be a better approach. This is true mostly for the intranet web applications. In an intranet application, you don’t have to worry about Search Engine Optimization too. So WebForms will be an ideal choice to develop intranet web applications because you don’t have to worry much about the performance and SEO aspects.
  • You need a test driven environment – Unit testing is much more easier in MVC framework than in WebForms.
  • For Freshers: if you are an ASP.Net Developer you must upgrade yourself with MVC. For Beginner -skip learning ASP.Net Web Forms (because it is outdated) and start learning MVC. Every company needs Asp.Net as mandatory skill in Freshers, as it is Assumed if anybody knows MVC (s)he can work on Asp.net web forms easily, but vice versais is not true.

MVC seems to over complicate simple things. But once you have a good grasp of it, things will turn out really easy for you. Above are few of the factors which affect for deciding the program modal. There are many more.

Difference between Asp.Net MVC and Web Forms

Asp.Net Web Forms
Asp.Net MVC
Asp.Net Web Form follow a traditional event driven development model.
Asp.Net MVC is a lightweight and follow MVC (Model, View, Controller) pattern based development model.
Asp.Net Web Form has server controls.
Asp.Net MVC has html helpers.
Asp.Net Web Form supports view state for state management at client side.
Asp.Net MVC does not support view state.
Asp.Net Web Form has file-based URLs means file name exist in the URLs must have its physically existence.
Asp.Net MVC has route-based URLs means URLs are divided into controllers and actions and moreover it is based on controller not on physical file.
Asp.Net Web Form follows Web Forms Syntax
Asp.Net MVC follow customizable syntax (Razor as default)
In Asp.Net Web Form, Web Forms(ASPX) i.e. views are tightly coupled to Code behind(ASPX.CS) i.e. logic.
In Asp.Net MVC, Views and logic are kept separately.
Asp.Net Web Form has Master Pages for consistent look and feels.
Asp.Net MVC has Layouts for consistent look and feels.
Asp.Net Web Form has User Controls for code re-usability.
Asp.Net MVC has Partial Views for code re-usability.
Asp.Net Web Form has built-in data controls and best for rapid development with powerful data access.
Asp.Net MVC is lightweight, provide full control over markup and support many features that allow fast & agile development. Hence it is best for developing interactive web application with latest web standards.
Asp.Net Web Form is not Open Source.
Asp.Net Web MVC is an Open Source.