ASP.NET: Using Request["param"] versus using Request.QueryString["param"] or Request.Form["param"]

Question

When accessing a form or query string value from code-behind in ASP.NET, what are the pros and cons of using, say:

// short way
string p = Request["param"];

instead of:

// long way
string p = Request.QueryString["param"]; // if it's in the query string or
string p = Request.Form["param"];        // for posted form values

I've thought about this many times, and come up with:

Short way:

Shorter (more readable, easier for newbies to remember, etc)

Long way:

No problems if there are a form value and query string value with same name (though that's not usually an issue)
Someone reading the code later knows whether to look in URLs or form elements to find the source of the data (probably the most important point)

.

So what other advantages/disadvantages are there to each approach?

Kris Ivanov · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-09 03:10:19Z

9

the param collection includes all (4) collections:

Query-string parameters
Form fields
Cookies
Server variables

you can debate that searching in the combined collection is slower than looking into a specific one, but it is negligible to make a difference

answered Feb 9, 2011 at 3:10

Kris Ivanov

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2 Comments

Vadim Over a year ago

+1 The only performance difference is that the first time Params is accessed, it needs to be constructed from the other collections. NameValueCollection uses a Hashset to store the values, so access is quick regardless of size.

VoidKing Over a year ago

I sometimes deliberately set up just Request["param"]. I do this so that I can use both POST and GET in other pages that point to this one but are for the same purpose (like a returnUrl to be used with OAuth for example). I certainly don't think that this should just be done by default due to laziness, though, for sure.

MGOwen · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-27 03:22:48Z

4

The long way is better because:

It makes it easier (when reading the code later) to find where the value is coming from (improving readability)
It's marginally faster (though this usually isn't significant, and only applies to first access)

In ASP.NET (as well as the equivalent concept in PHP), I always use what you are calling the "long form." I do so out of the principle that I want to know exactly from where my input values are coming, so that I am ensuring that they get to my application the way I expect. So, it's for input validation and security that I prefer the longer way. Plus, as you suggest, I think the maintainability is worth a few extra keystrokes.

edited Sep 27, 2012 at 3:22

MGOwen

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answered Feb 9, 2011 at 3:17

Andrew

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