UI data binding is a software design pattern

Design pattern (computer science)

In software engineering, a design pattern is a general reusable solution to a commonly occurring problem within a given context in software design. A design pattern is not a finished design that can be transformed directly into code. It is a description or template for how to solve a problem that...

 to simplify development of GUI

Gui

Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...

 applications. UI data binding

Data binding

Data binding is a general technique that binds two data/information sources together and maintains synchronization of data. This is usually done with two data/information sources with different types as in XML data binding. However, in UI data binding, data and information objects of the same type...

 binds UI elements to an application domain model

Domain model

A domain model in problem solving and software engineering can be thought of as a conceptual model of a domain of interest which describes the various entities, their attributes, roles and relationships, plus the constraints that govern the integrity of the model elements comprising that problem...

. Most frameworks employ the Observer pattern

Observer pattern

The observer pattern is a software design pattern in which an object, called the subject, maintains a list of its dependents, called observers, and notifies them automatically of any state changes, usually by calling one of their methods...

 as the underlying binding mechanism. To work efficiently, UI data binding has to address input validation

Data validation

In computer science, data validation is the process of ensuring that a program operates on clean, correct and useful data. It uses routines, often called "validation rules" or "check routines", that check for correctness, meaningfulness, and security of data that are input to the system...

 and data type mapping.

A bound control is a widget whose value is tied or bound

Data binding

Data binding is a general technique that binds two data/information sources together and maintains synchronization of data. This is usually done with two data/information sources with different types as in XML data binding. However, in UI data binding, data and information objects of the same type...

 to a field in a recordset

Recordset

A recordset is a data structure that consists of a group of database records, and can either come from a base table or as the result of a query to the table....

 (i.e., a column

Column (database)

In the context of a relational database table, a column is a set of data values of a particular simple type, one for each row of the table. The columns provide the structure according to which the rows are composed....

 in a row

Row (database)

In the context of a relational database, a row—also called a record or tuple—represents a single, implicitly structured data item in a table. In simple terms, a database table can be thought of as consisting of rows and columns or fields...

 of a table

Table (database)

In relational databases and flat file databases, a table is a set of data elements that is organized using a model of vertical columns and horizontal rows. A table has a specified number of columns, but can have any number of rows...

). Changes made to data within the control are automatically saved to the database when the control's exit event triggers.

Java

• JSR-277 A Standard Data Binding & Data Access Facility for J2EE http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=227
• JFace Data Binding http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/JFace_Data_Binding

.NET

• Windows Forms
  Windows Forms
  Windows Forms is the name given to the graphical application programming interface included as a part of Microsoft .NET Framework, providing access to native Microsoft Windows interface elements by wrapping the extant Windows API in managed code...
  
   data binding overview http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa984214.aspx
• WPF
  Windows Presentation Foundation
  Developed by Microsoft, the Windows Presentation Foundation is a computer-software graphical subsystem for rendering user interfaces in Windows-based applications. WPF, previously known as "Avalon", was initially released as part of .NET Framework 3.0. Rather than relying on the older GDI...
  
  data binding overview http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms752347.aspx