# How Do Visualforce Pages Compare to S-Controls?

:::important
Visualforce pages supersede s-controls. Organizations that haven't previously used s-controls can’t create them. Existing s-controls are unaffected and can still be edited.
:::

Visualforce pages are considered the next-generation of s-controls and should be used instead of s-controls whenever possible, both for their increased performance and the ease with which they can be written. The following table outlines the differences between Visualforce pages and s-controls.

|                                                    | Visualforce Pages                                                                                                                                                                                 | S-Controls                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Required technical skills**                      | HTML, XML                                                                                                                                                                                         | HTML, JavaScript, Ajax Toolkit                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| **Language style**                                 | Tag markup                                                                                                                                                                                        | Procedural code                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| **Page override model**                            | Assemble standard and custom components using tags                                                                                                                                                | Write HTML and JavaScript for entire page                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| **Standard Salesforce component library**          | Yes                                                                                                                                                                                               | No                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| **Access to built-in platform behavior**           | Yes, through the standard controller                                                                                                                                                              | No                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| **Data binding**                                   | YesDevelopers can bind an input component (such as a text box) with a particular field (such as Account Name). If a user saves a value in that input component, it is also saved in the database. | NoDevelopers can't bind an input component with a particular field. Instead, they must write JavaScript code that uses the API to update the database with user-specified field values.                                                                       |
| **Stylesheet inheritance**                         | Yes                                                                                                                                                                                               | No, must bring in Salesforce stylesheets manually                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| **Respect for field metadata, such as uniqueness** | Yes, by defaultIf a user attempts to save a record that violates uniqueness or requiredness field attributes, an error message is automatically displayed and the user can try again.             | Yes, if coded in JavaScript using a `describe` API callIf a user attempts to save a record that violates uniqueness or requiredness field attributes, an error message is only displayed if the s-control developer wrote code that checked those attributes. |
| **Interaction with Apex**                          | Direct, by binding to a custom controller                                                                                                                                                         | Indirect, by using Apex `webService` methods through the API                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| **Performance**                                    | More responsive because markup is generated on the Lightning Platform                                                                                                                             | Less responsive because every call to the API requires a round trip to the server—the burden rests with the developer to tune performance                                                                                                                     |
| **Page container**                                 | Native                                                                                                                                                                                            | In an iFrame                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |