Is the best approach a typed or not typed view in ASP.NET MVC?

Question

In ASP.NET MVC it's possible to choice between having a typed view were you define in the codebehind what kind of data the view can should expect. But it's also possible to not define this and just pass any kind of data to view in a ViewData container.

What would the best model here or should I mix depending on what kind of data we're talking about (maybe just make sure to have data that's critical to the functionality of the view typed and other data not typed?)? I don't really understand why there is a option here ...

Answer 1

I had this thought too in the past. In my site, I used to strong-type the view, when the view is almost a 1:1 model of the class you are showing. Like showing a list of all users, I type to List, this way I don't need to cast anytime to have the right datatype.

In none specific views, I just strong-type to the most "heavy"/used type.

In forms, the form itself is the type of the view when returning View(form); ....

Answer 2

Earlier releases of the framework required you to choose between a ViewData dictionary and strongly typed view model.

Now you can mix the two. Combine this with some of the new features of Preview 5, such as ModelState, validation, and auto-binding to form fields and it becomes more compelling to use the ViewPage for the main model in your view being rendered.

You can still add data to the dictionary in the controller pipeline and request it later on using ViewData["key"] ... or even better ViewData.Get("key") from MvcContrib.

Answer 3

I would recommend always using the strongly typed ViewData... that way you have compile time checking, intellisense, you don't have to do casting in your view, and the ability to refactor your code much easier.