CODEWITHSUNDEEP
asp.net-mvc
TonE
TonE

Reputation: 3035

Difference between HttpContext.Current and Controller.Context in MVC ASP.NET

I am working on an MVC ASP .NET application. I am relatively new to both.

In a controller I am trying to get the current log on user, for which there seem to be two ways of doing this:

System.Web.HttpContext.Current.User.Identity.Name

Or

HttpContext.User.Identity.Name

What is the difference between these? As far as a I can tell within the MVC framework the controller has the current HttpContext stored as a property so these methods are identical. Is that correct?

Upvotes: 74

Views: 62451

Answers (2)

Levi
Levi

Reputation: 32818

The context provided by the controller (not the static HttpContext.Current) is mockable. If you're interested in unit-testing your code, it's generally far easier to create a mock ControllerContext and set it on the Controller than it is to go through HttpContext.Current. Otherwise ControllerContext.HttpContext points to the same data as HttpContext.Current.

Upvotes: 27

Lucero
Lucero

Reputation: 60190

Yes, they will usually be identical. However, if you're working with additional threads, they will not be; System.Web.HttpContext.Current is threadstatic.

Upvotes: 93

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