In addition to using Web server controls in your ASP.NET Web pages, you can create your own custom, reusable controls using the same techniques you use for creating ASP.NET Web pages. These controls are called user controls.

A user control is a kind of composite control that works much like an ASP.NET Web page—you can add existing Web server controls and markup to a user control, and define properties and methods for the control. You can then embed them in ASP.NET Web pages, where they act as a unit.

The topics in this section provide information on how user controls work, how to create them, and how to add them to ASP.NET Web pages.