What is an ObservableCollection?

For those wanting a simple answer without the geek-speak, I’ll try to explain:

Normal Collections

Every now and then I go to NYC and my friend asks me to buy stuff for him. So I take a shopping list with me. The list has a lot of things on there like:

1. Hugo Boss jacket
2. Clive Christian’s Imperial Majesty ($215,000/16.9 oz.)
3. Mont Blanc – pen. $500.
4. Fur coat. ($4500)
5. Ferrari ($750,000)

Well I”m not buying that stuff. Way tooo expensive! So I cross them off and remove them from the list and I add in:

1. 12 dozen Titleist golf balls.

The ObservableCollection

So I come home and my friend is not pleased. But that was in the old days, now he’s got onto this whole smart phone thing – and he now has an Iphone with an IShoppingList app that’s on the cloud. Here’s how it works: whenever you remove something from the online shopping list on the cloud: he gets a notification on his phone (i.e. an sms or email etc) and in addition to that stuff happens. What happens exactly? Usually a phone call asking me to put the stuff back on the list.

The observable collection works just the same way. If you add or remove something to or from it: someone is notified. And when they are notified, they do stuff. What stuff exactly? Well whatever you want! they can sing, dance, do the hokey-pokey etc.

That sums it all up!