Let me start off by saying how much I love the GridView control, which is a great upgrade to my old favorite, the Datagrid control.  And I'm also a big Microsoft-lover, just ask any of my former co-workers, or people who have heard me speak on Microsoft topics, so I'm not trying to Microsoft-bash here.

All the GridView examples I'm seeing so far are based on binding it to one of the new datasource controls, such as the SqlDataSource.  I come from a 3-tier enterprise application kind of a world, and this kind of coding just isn't sitting well with me.  I don't like seeing SQL statements in code-behind, and I sure don't like seeing them in the ASPX.  I'm a big fan of the server control model in general, and I'm all about doing things declaratively when possible (and appropriate).  I even like making custom server controls -- I get a happy feeling when code is tidy and reusable, but I can't seem to get excited about SqlDataSource.

I can understand the ASP.NET Team wanting the feature in order to compete with ColdFusion, where everything is tag-based (SQL queries are just a <CFQUERY> tag).  I worked with a client a few years ago who was moving some functionality from ColdFusion to ASP.NET, and there was some whining that ASP.NET "couldn't do" these handy things that CF could.  Maybe now Macromedia will take this off their site.

And maybe SqlDataSource is suitable for coders who were used to drag-and-drop data access in .NET, and actually used all that (clunky) data access code VS 2003 generated.  For you, SqlDataSource may be an improvement.  And rank beginners or hobbyists, go wild with it.

But for the rest of us, developers creating real-world, serious applications, I can't see using SqlDataSource.  I'm more of a custom objects kind of girl, so I can see using the ObjectDataSource and binding that to a GridView, but I think it's possible to get a little too declarative with some of these new controls.  So article authors, book authors, and presenters:  please show at least some GridView examples that would be appropriate for an n-tier app, and not just a Hello World, demo-candy app.  Thanks!

--Marcie