Tag helpers vs HTML helpers — ASP.NET Core MVC (and Razor Pages)

9. Tag helpers vs HTML helpers

Intermediate★ Must knowLesson 9 of 15

cshtml

@addTagHelper *, Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.TagHelpers

<form asp-controller="Products" asp-action="Create" method="post">
    <div asp-validation-summary="ModelOnly"></div>
    <label asp-for="Name"></label>
    <input asp-for="Name" class="form-control" />
    <span asp-validation-for="Name"></span>
    <select asp-for="CategoryId" asp-items="Model.Categories"></select>
    <button type="submit">Save</button>
</form>
<a asp-action="Details" asp-route-id="@item.Id">View</a>
<img src="~/img/logo.png" asp-append-version="true" />
<environment include="Development"><script src="~/js/site.js"></script></environment>

Old style HTML helpers: @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Name), @Html.ActionLink("View", "Details", new { id }). Tag helpers look like HTML, are designer-friendly, and the <form> tag helper adds the antiforgery token automatically.

Custom tag helper: a class deriving from TagHelper overriding Process(TagHelperContext, TagHelperOutput).