>In a .Net application, do I want to create a connection
>on application startup, or only when I'm ready to access
>the data?
>
>Thanks

Kevin,

The one thing that hasn't been mentioned here is that, when dealing with the Web, connections are generally stateless. By this, I mean that once the connection has been made and the data pulled back, the connection goes into a pool. Connections in the pool can be re-used as necessary.

I've always believed in a similiar scenario even when dealing with local VFP tables: Open them when you need them. Close them when you don't.