Q:

Why does binding a DropDownList function differently than manually adding ListItems?

Snippet One
I add list items to my drop down one at a time.
var ddlHour = new DropDownList {ID = "ddlHour" + i};
ddlHour.Items.Add(new ListItem("12 AM", "0:00"));
ddlHour.Items.Add(new ListItem("1 AM", "1:00"));
ddlHour.Items.Add(new ListItem("2 AM", "2:00"));
Console.WriteLine(ddlHour.Items[0].Value); 
// Prints 0:00

Snippet Two
I bind my drop down to an array of list items.
var hourItems = new[]
{
    new ListItem("12 AM", "0:00"), // "Text", "Value"
    new ListItem("1 AM", "1:00"),
    new ListItem("2 AM", "2:00")
};
var ddlHour = new DropDownList {ID = "ddlHour" + i, DataSource = hourItems};
ddlHour.DataBind();
Console.WriteLine(ddlHour.Items[0].Value); 
// Prints 12 AM

After the first snippet executes, I inspect the values of each item and find "0:00", "1:00", and "2:00". Exactly what I expect.
After the second snippet executes, I inspect the values of each item and find "12 AM", "1 AM", and "2 AM". Not what I expect. What happened to my values?

A:

They are same. Only different is that if you use DataSource, you need to specify DataTextField and DataValueField.
...
ddlHour.DataBind();
ddlHour.DataTextField = "Text";
ddlHour.DataValueField = "Value";
Console.WriteLine(ddlHour.Items[0].Value); 

