mostlylucid

Small point...what Databinding syntax does everyone use?

UPDATE: OK, before anyone points out the obvious (actually after many people have!) - I am aware that DataBinder.Eval promotes code reuse to some degree; you still have to know what your fields are called of course! My point in this post was that I rarely saw the alternative syntax used and that in my experience I have found almost no drawbacks in using the 'Strong' syntax. This was also a trawl for comments to get the opinions of other developers...with that in mind, let the comments recommence...

Incidentally, in the post below, if anything looks screwy, sorry, having problems with the stupid Rich Text editor again!

Reason I ask is that most of the examples I see all over the web use the:
format...
now the reason for this seems to be that this is  allegedly 'easier' to use and read.
To be honest, I have never used that format, I tend to use this:
<%# string.format("{0:c}",((dbdatarecord)container.dataitem)["price"]%="">  format
now, I understand that this looks more complex  but as it points out here,
"It is important to note that DataBinder.Eval can carry a noticeable performance penalty over the standard data binding syntax because it uses late-bound reflection. Use DataBinder.Eval judiciously, especially when string formatting is not required. ".
Now, in my tests (I benchmark everything...obsessive? Quite possibly :-)), the Eval syntax is a LOT slower, like up to 20% slower - so, what is the actual advantage of using it?
OK, my opinion on why you wouldn't use the 'explicit casting' syntax (i.e., the one I use):

1. You have to import the correct namespace depending on whether you use a DataSet or a SqlDataReader (or any IDataReader) (System.Data and System.Data.Common respectively).
2. You have to cast to the 'correct' object so for DataSet it's DataRowView and for SqlDataReader (or any IDataReader) it's DbDataRecord...for any other objects, it's the correct object obviously :-)
3. It's more 'wordy'
4. Very few examples show this syntax...

Now, these are pretty good reasons to use the DataBinder.Eval syntax, but to be honest, I just don't find them compelling...so here's some reasons to use the 'explicit casting' one:

1. You have to import the correct namespace depending on whether you use a DataSet or a SqlDataReader (or any IDataReader) (System.Data and System.Data.Common respectively) - same argument...but I have to say, I like this! It's more explicit about what namespace you're actually using and forces you to know this stuff!
2. You have to cast to the 'correct' object so for DataSet it's DataRowView and for SqlDataReader (or any IDataReader) it's DbDataRecord...for any other objects, it's the correct object obviously - again, the same as above...knowing what type of object you're using is, in my opinion, a good thing, it gives a whole lot of control in how you represent the object; for example you get access to all the nice DateTime formatters in the .ToString() method - same as you would in code!
3. It's faster - now this is not a 'be all and end all' argument, but it is important, especially in high-hit sites or when you have to bind really long lists of data - faster = less time for which a thread is used!
4. Makes you look like a smart ass - OK, just me then :-)

Anyway, I really am interested in hearing people's opinions on this one...which do you prefer, and why?

Print | posted on Tuesday, December 09, 2003 4:25 PM | Filed Under [ ASP.NET ]