title: Dropdownlist index starts at -1
body: <p>I have a dropdownlist and cant figure out the way index works. I have two items in the list, item1 is selected by default when the page is loaded. When the page is loaded, <code>item1</code> is selected and the index is -1. if I change item to <code>item2</code>, the index goes to 1. If I change back to <code>item1</code> it goes to 0.</p>
  
  <p>Is the starting index allways -1? If so, is it possible to change that so that the starting index will be 0? What is the reason for this design?</p>
  
  <p>Clairification:</p>
  
  <pre><code>protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
  {
      dropDownList1.SelectedIndex = 0;     //I try to set the index to 0
      myVariable = dropDownList1.SelectedIndex; //Debugger says SelectedIndex is -1
  }
  </code></pre>