Difference Between Repeater, DataList and GridView

To display and modify data in our Asp.Net web application, we can use Data-bound controls such as Repeater, DataList and GridView. All these three Data-bound controls are bounded to data source control such as LinqDataSource and SqlDataSource. These control also contain some other basic Asp.net control which includes DropdownList, Labels, Textbox, etc.

Difference Between Repeater, DataList and GridView

Here in this article, you will learn all the difference between DataList, Repeater and GridView.

DataList vs Repeater: Head to Head Comparison

DataList	Repeater
Object Rendering
Its object rendered as a table	It uses templates to render its object.
Columns generation
It automatically generates columns using the data source.	It cannot generate columns.
Row selection
It can select a row from the data source.	It cannot select rows.
Content Editing
Using DataList control, we can edit object content.	It does not support content editing.
Data arrangement
It has RepeatDirection property which allows it to arrange data vertically and horizontally.	It cannot manually arrange data.
Performance
It is slower than Repeater.	It is very fast because of its lightweight.

GridView vs Repeater: Head to Head Comparison

GridView	Repeater
Debut
GridView was introduced in Asp.Net 2.0	The Repeater was introduced in Asp.Net 1.0.
Columns generation
It automatically generates columns using the data source.	It cannot generate columns.
Row selection
It can select a row from the data source.	It cannot select rows.
Content Editing
Using GridView control, we can edit object content.	It does not support content editing.
In-built methods
It comes with built-in paging and sorting methods.	No built-in support for Built-in paging and sorting developer has to code.
Auto formatting and styling
In GridView we get inbuilt auto format and styling feature.	It does not support these features.
Performance
It is slower than Repeater.	Because of its lightweight, it is faster as compared to GridView.

GridView vs DataList: Head to Head Comparison

GridView	DataList
Debut
GridView was introduced in Asp.Net 2.0 version.	DataList was introduced in Asp.Net 1.0 version.
In-built methods
It comes with built-in paging and sorting methods.	No built-in support for Built-in paging and sorting, the developer has to code for these features.
Build-in CRUD operation
It comes with built-in Update and Deletes Operations, so the developer does not need to write code for simple operations.	If developer use DataList then he/she has to write code for the Update and Delete operations.
Auto formatting and styling
In GridView we get inbuilt auto format and styling feature.	It does not support these features.
Customizable Row
We do not get Customizable row separator feature in GridView.	DataList has SeparatorTemplate for customizable row separator.
Performance:
Its performance is the lowest as compared to Repeater and DataList.	It is faster than the GridView.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned all the basic and advance difference between Repeater, DataList and GridView. You can choose any of these Data-bound controls according to your application need. All these three controls can be used to show the collection of records.

The GridView Provide more features as compared to repeaters and DataList, and it even makes the code implementation faster. But it comes with a price of slow loading. However, DataList and Repeaters lack in built-in features, but they are more customizable and faster.

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