title: What is the difference (if any) between Html.Partial(view, model) and Html.RenderPartial(view,model) in MVC2?
body: <p>Other than the type it returns and the fact that you call it differently of course</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;% Html.RenderPartial(...); %&gt;
  &lt;%= Html.Partial(...) %&gt;  
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>If they are different, why would you call one rather than the other one?<br>
  The definitions:</p>
  
  <pre><code>// Type: System.Web.Mvc.Html.RenderPartialExtensions
  // Assembly: System.Web.Mvc, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35
  // Assembly location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft ASP.NET\ASP.NET MVC 2\Assemblies\System.Web.Mvc.dll
  
  using System.Web.Mvc;
  
  namespace System.Web.Mvc.Html
  {
      public static class RenderPartialExtensions
      {
          public static void RenderPartial(this HtmlHelper htmlHelper, string partialViewName);
          public static void RenderPartial(this HtmlHelper htmlHelper, string partialViewName, ViewDataDictionary viewData);
          public static void RenderPartial(this HtmlHelper htmlHelper, string partialViewName, object model);
  
          public static void RenderPartial(this HtmlHelper htmlHelper, string partialViewName, object model,
                                       ViewDataDictionary viewData);
      }
  }
  
  // Type: System.Web.Mvc.Html.PartialExtensions
  // Assembly: System.Web.Mvc, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35
  // Assembly location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft ASP.NET\ASP.NET MVC 2\Assemblies\System.Web.Mvc.dll
  
  using System.Web.Mvc;
  
  namespace System.Web.Mvc.Html
  {
      public static class PartialExtensions
      {
          public static MvcHtmlString Partial(this HtmlHelper htmlHelper, string partialViewName);
  
          public static MvcHtmlString Partial(this HtmlHelper htmlHelper, string partialViewName,
                                          ViewDataDictionary viewData);
  
          public static MvcHtmlString Partial(this HtmlHelper htmlHelper, string partialViewName, object model);
  
          public static MvcHtmlString Partial(this HtmlHelper htmlHelper, string partialViewName, object model,
                                          ViewDataDictionary viewData);
      }
  }
  </code></pre>