I've run into an issue where a third-party component appears to be interfering with Response.Write and causing any content within Response.Write("") to render before any of the other html. For example:
<html><head><title><% Response.Write("HELLO WORLD") %>
will render as
HELLO WORLD<html><head>...
However, any content rendered using <%= %> blocks will work correctly. The below code will work perfectly:
<html><head><title><%="HELLO WORLD"%>
I always assumed that <%= was simply shorthand for Response.Write. From what I've been able to find on MSDN I now understand that it <%= is eventually converted to Response.Write, but apparently there are a few steps inbetween.
Does anyone have a guess as to why the two would render differently or point me to some documentation/info that explains how <%= %> blocks are handled?
Update: The control that was causing the issue was the Telerik AjaxManager control from the 2009 Q1 release. Upgrading to the Q2 control resolved the problem.
Unfortunately I don't have access to the source so I haven't been able to figure out why the control was causing this behavior. The issue has been resolved but I am still very curious as to why it existed in the first place.