Empirical study of performance of data binding in ASP.NET web applications

Abstract

Most developers use default properties of ASP.NET server controls when developing web applications. ASP.NET web applications typically employ server controls to provide dynamic web pages, and data-bound server controls to display and maintain database data. Though the default properties allow for fast creation of workable applications, creating a high-performance, multi-user, and scalable web application requires careful configuring of server controls and their enhancement using custom-made code. In providing commonly required functionality in data-driven ASP.NET web applications such as paging, sorting and filtering, our empirical study evaluated the impact of various technical approaches: automatic data binding in web server controls; data paging and sorting on web server; paging and sorting on database server; indexed and non-indexed database columns; clustered vs. non-clustered indices. The study observed significant performance differences between various technical approaches.