title: What is the standard ASP.net data binding syntax?
body: <p>Microsoft's introduction to <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163780.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">data-binding using the <code>asp:Repeater</code></a> control gives the syntax to fetch a value:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;b&gt;&lt;%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "orderid") %&gt;&lt;/b&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This syntax is repeated on <a href="http://www.codeguru.com/csharp/.net/net_asp/controls/article.php/c19299/The-ASPNET-Repeater-Web-Server-Control.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">other introductions to the ASP.net <code>Repeater</code> control</a>:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;a href="&lt;%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "URL") %&gt;"&gt;...&lt;/a&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But i remember this syntax being "bad" and "wrong". From the MSDN documentation of <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/4hx47hfe.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>DataBinder.Eval</code></a> i see:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/4pLqd.gif" alt="enter image description here">    <strong>Note</strong>  </p>
    
    <p>Because this method performs late-bound evaluation, using reflection at run time, it can cause performance to noticeably slow compared to <strong>standard ASP.NET data-binding syntax</strong>.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p><em>(emphases added)</em></p>
  
  <p>So that explains <em>why</em> i had a memory of <em>"<code>Eval</code> is bad"</em>. But what <strong><em>is</em></strong> the "standard ASP.NET data-binding syntax"?</p>
  
  <h2>Bonus Reading</h2>
  
  <ul>
  <li><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bda9bbfx%28v=vs.100%29.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Data-Binding Expression Syntax</a></li>
  </ul>