Generally in ASP.NET MVC we use the ViewData,ViewBag, and TempData objects for the purposes of moving data beween views or from controller to views.In this post we compare them against each other higlighting there difference and usage patterns.

Both the ViewData and ViewBag objects assume that the action returns a view and doesn't redirect.:

a) ViewData is a dictionary object and is derived from ViewDataDictionary class whereas ViewBag is a dynamic property (a wrapper around ViewData)

b) The scope of these objects lies only during the current request.

c) In case of redirection the value becomes null for these objects

d) They are used for moving Small amounts of data

Below code sample illustrate the usage:

ViewBag:

public ActionResult Example()
{
    ViewBag.Example = "Test";
    return View();
}

and in the view: @ViewBag.Example

ViewData:

public ActionResult Example()
{
    ViewData["Example"] = "Test";
    return View();
}

and in the view: @ViewData["Example"]

TempData object works well in scenarios where we need to pass data from current request to subsequent request:

a) TempData is a property of ControllerBase class.

b) It is used for passing data between the current and next HTTP request

c) It is mostly used to store only one time messages like error messages

Below code sample illustrate the usage:

TempData:

public ActionResult Example()
{
    TempData["Example"] = "Test";
    return RedirectToAction("TestUrl");
}

and in the view: @TempData["Example"]