The basic difference between Close() and Dispose() is, when a Close() method is called, connection will be temporarily closed and can be opened once again. Where as Dispose() method permanently close and removes connection object from memory and the resource no longer exists for any further processing.Example: try { string constring = "Server=(local);Database=my; User Id=sa; Password=sa"; SqlConnection sqlcon = new SqlConnection(constring); sqlcon.Open(); // here connection is open // some code here which will be execute } catch { // code will be execute when error occurred in try block } finally { sqlcon.Close(); // close the connection sqlcon.Dispose(); // desroy the connection object }