Difference Between ViewResult() and ActionResult()

Question

What is the difference between ViewResult() and ActionResult() in ASP.NET MVC?

public ViewResult Index()
{
    return View();
}

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Answer 1

In Controller i have specified the below code with ActionResult which is a base class that can have 11 subtypes in MVC like: ViewResult, PartialViewResult, EmptyResult, RedirectResult, RedirectToRouteResult, JsonResult, JavaScriptResult, ContentResult, FileContentResult, FileStreamResult, FilePathResult.

    public ActionResult Index()
                {
                    if (HttpContext.Session["LoggedInUser"] == null)
                    {
                        return RedirectToAction("Login", "Home");
                    }

                    else
                    {
                        return View(); // returns ViewResult
                    }

                }
//More Examples

    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult Index(string Name)
    {
     ViewBag.Message = "Hello";
     return Redirect("Account/Login"); //returns RedirectResult
    }

    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult Index(string Name)
    {
    return RedirectToRoute("RouteName"); // returns RedirectToRouteResult
    }

Likewise we can return all these 11 subtypes by using ActionResult() without specifying every subtype method explicitly. ActionResult is the best thing if you are returning different types of views.