What is the difference among ViewBag, ViewData and TempData ?

In ASP.NET MVC there are three ways (ViewData, ViewBag and TempData) to pass data from Controller to View and in next request.

ViewData:

• ViewData is a dictionary object that is derived from ViewDataDictionary class.
• public ViewDataDictionary ViewData { get; set; }
• ViewData is a property of ControllerBase class.
• ViewData is used to pass data from controller to corresponding view.
• It’s life lies only during the current request.
• If redirection occurs then it’s value becomes null.
• It’s required typecasting for getting data and check for null values to avoid error.

ViewBag:

• ViewBag is a dynamic property that takes advantage of the new dynamic features in C# 4.0.
• Basically it is a wrapper around the ViewData and also used to pass data from controller to corresponding view.
• public Object ViewBag { get; }
• ViewBag is a property of ControllerBase class.
• It’s life also lies only during the current request.
• If redirection occurs then it’s value becomes null.
• It doesn’t required typecasting for getting data.

TempData:

• TempData is a dictionary object that is derived from TempDataDictionary class and stored in short lives session.
• public TempDataDictionary TempData { get; set; }
• TempData is a property of ControllerBase class.
• TempData is used to pass data from current request to subsequent request (means redirecting from one page to another).
• It’s life is very short and lies only till the target view is fully loaded.
• It’s required typecasting for getting data and check for null values to avoid error.
• It is used to store only one time messages like error messages, validation messages.