JQuery Ui or AjaxControlToolkit?

Question

I´m building an asp.net app, which technology I should use to get AJAX capabilities? And why ? By now I only need to use a Confirmation button into a gridview, but possible more features will be needed. I can use both, right? Thanks.

Answer 1

It should depend heavily on whether you're using WebForms or ASP.NET MVC.

The Ajax Control Toolkit & ASP.NET AJAX relay very heavily on server-side functionality, and integrate very well with WebForms. This is better for developers who need to build apps quickly and productively, without much concern for performance or the need for precise AJAX functionality. This is a more ‘out-of-the-box’ or rapid development model. Tweaking the AJAX though can be very difficult.

jQuery & the jQuery UI are much better suited for the MVC framework. This is better for larger, more complex applications where performance and precise AJAX functionality is of great importance. This model is much better suited for well-crafted, higher quality applications. There’s a bit of a learning curve though, and it requires a higher degree of knowledge in HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

In my opinion though, the MVC & jQuery/jQueryUI are a much better choice in most cases. Once you get past the learning curve for them, you’ll hate going back to WebForms.