What is ViewState? Explain its benefits and limitations.

Answer 1

Viewstate is used to maintain or retain values on postback. It helps in preserving a page. Viewstate is internally maintained as a hidden field in encrypted form along with a key.

Advantages:

i) No server resources.
ii) Viewstate ensures security because it stores the data in encrypted format.
iii) Viewstates are simple. They are used by enabling or disabling the viewstate properties.
iv) It is based on the wish of developer that they want to implement it at the page level or at control level.

Disadvantages:

i) If large amount of data is stored on the page, then page load might cause a problem.
ii) Does not track across pages. Viewstate information does not automatically transfer from page to page.