ASP.NET MVC doesn't work with ViewState and Postback?

Question

Perhaps this is a naive question. In my understanding, ASP.NET MVC cannot work with ViewState and Postback which is fundamentals of ASP.NET forms. Is that correct?

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Answer 1

ASP.NET's server-side controls work with WebForms, not MVC. MVC doesn't use controls in the traditional ASP.NET sense (at least yet).

The MVC model is quite different from the WebForms model; not better or worse, but very different. Using MVC puts the developer much closer to the generated HTML, lends itself more intrinsically to unit testing, and provides a strong separation of concerns between the UI and the code that populates that UI.

At first glance, especially to hardened ASP.NET veterans, MVC can seem like a huge step backwards (if you've were coding then, visions of ASP COM development might dance in your head).

But give MVC a try. It is very interesting and its model is quite compelling once you get used to it.

Read more here: http://quickstarts.asp.net/previews/mvc/mvc_HowToRenderFormUsingHtmlHelpers.htm

Also, check out this interesting blog engine that uses MVC: http://www.codeplex.com/oxite

Finally, check out Rob Conery's MVC storefront project: http://wekeroad.com/category/mvc-storefront

Answer 2

This might surprise you, but I accidentally dropped a Button on a MVC page, and implemented the Click event, and it actually worked!

I was surprised, maybe it works for just this simple case (it was the only element on the page at that time), and the fact that the response ended with a redirect, but in some cases it seems it can work :)

Answer 3

This might surprise you, but I accidentally dropped a Button on a MVC page, and implemented the Click event, and it actually worked!

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the does not need a ViewState. It should create a simple HTML tag , and if you don't change the properties of the button at run-time (text, event, ...), no VIEWSTATE will be needed.

Maybe that's the reason why it worked.