ASP.NET - Web Forms

Web Forms is the original programming model of ASP.NET. It follows an event-driven approach similar to desktop applications. Developers use server controls like buttons, textboxes, and grids that automatically generate HTML.

The key feature of Web Forms is ViewState, which preserves control values between HTTP requests. This allows the illusion of stateful interaction in a stateless HTTP environment. However, ViewState increases page size and affects performance.

Web Forms uses postbacks, where user actions trigger a request back to the same page. Server-side event handlers process the request and update the UI. This simplifies development but hides request–response mechanics.

While Web Forms is easy for beginners, it tightly couples UI with logic, making testing and maintenance difficult. It is not suitable for modern, scalable web applications.

Today, Web Forms is considered legacy technology and is largely replaced by MVC and ASP.NET Core.