ToolStripSplitButton vs. ToolStripDropDownButton

Question

What is the difference between ToolStripSplitButton and ToolStripDropDownButton? (Visual Studio 2008) (Also asked here, not on SO). At first blush, they seem to be largly the same; especially in the designer.

Answer 1

Split buttons are regular buttons with a drop-down menu attached to them. If you click a split button on the button part, it acts like a regular button. If you click it on the menu part, a menu drops down. The "back" button on the majority of browsers are this type of button, for example.

Drop-down buttons, when clicked, drop down a menu. They don't have (and shouldn't have) directly associated functionality beyond displaying the drop-down menu. They are like the topmost items in a menu: they don't do anything when clicked other than to show you more items.