ObservableCollection vs. BindingList: Which Data Binding Collection Should You Choose?

ObservableCollection vs. BindingList: A Comparative Guide for Data Binding

In data-bound applications, developers frequently face the decision of using ObservableCollection or BindingList to manage collections. Both provide change notifications, but their differing features necessitate careful consideration.

Understanding the Key Differences:

• Interface Implementation: ObservableCollection implements INotifyCollectionChanged, offering notifications for collection-level changes. BindingList, however, implements IBindingList, providing a more extensive feature set.
• Enhanced Functionality: BindingList offers superior capabilities vital for seamless UI integration, including sorting, searching, the AddNew method for factory-based object creation, and read-only mode control via the CanEdit property. These are absent in ObservableCollection.
• Granularity of Change Notifications: BindingList provides item-level change notifications (assuming the items implement INotifyPropertyChanged), a level of detail not offered by ObservableCollection.

Choosing the Right Collection:

Opt for ObservableCollection when basic UI binding updates suffice. Its simplicity makes it ideal for uncomplicated scenarios.

Select BindingList when your application requires advanced data manipulation and sophisticated UI integration. Its rich feature set facilitates enhanced user interaction, efficient sorting, and flexible data filtering.

It's important to remember that BindingList is not available in Silverlight; alternatives like ObservableCollection and ICollectionView are used instead.

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