Should I call the base class implementation when overriding a method in C# for ASP.NET?

Question

I understand overriding a method/function redefines its implementation in the derived class from its implementation in the base class.

Now what confuses me, is if I override a class in ASP.NET such as CreateChildControls() (I picked it randomly for no particular reason), VS2008 auto generates:

protected override void CreateChildControls()
{
   base.CreateChildControls();
}

Good enough, the default implementation just calls the base class' CreateChildControls().

So if I want to run some code, since I do not know how base.CreateChildControls(), should I do this:

protected override void CreateChildControls()
{
   /*My Code Here*/                    
   base.CreateChildControls();
}

or, ignore what base.CreateChildControls() altogether and just do

protected override void CreateChildControls()
{
   /*My Code Here*/                    
}

Answer 1

That's up to you. Generally, you want to call the base class method because it might do a lot of stuff you're not privy to (especially in a class you don't control .. get it? Control.) But, if you are very confident you don't need (or want) the base class "stuff" to happen, you can remove the call.

Answer 2

It's simply a question of whether you want to entirely replace the behavior or add behavior.

For something like CreateChildControls, you will probably retain the call to the base class.