The namespace contains classes that allow you to create Web server controls on a Web page. Web server controls run on the server and include form controls such as buttons and text boxes. They also include special-purpose controls such as a calendar. Because Web server controls run on the server, you can programmatically control these elements. Although Web server controls are rendered as HTML, their object model does not necessarily reflect HTML syntax.

The namespace contains classes that are rendered as HTML tags, such as the control and the control. The namespace also contains classes that are not rendered on the Web page, but support data operations, such as the and classes. Other controls, such as the and controls, support data display and editing. The class serves as the base class for many of the classes in the namespace.