"open/close" SqlConnection or keep open?

Question

I have my business-logic implemented in simple static classes with static methods. Each of these methods opens/closes SQL connection when called:

public static void DoSomething()
{
    using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection("..."))
    {
        connection.Open();

        // ...

        connection.Close();
    }
}

But I think avoiding opening and closing a connection saves performance. I made some tests long time ago with OleDbConnection class (not sure about SqlConnection), and it definitely helped to work like this (as far as I remember):

//pass around the connection object into the method
public static void DoSomething(SqlConnection connection)
{
    bool openConn = (connection.State == ConnectionState.Open);
    if (!openConn)
    {
        connection.Open();
    }

    // ....

    if (openConn) 
    {
        connection.Close();
    }
}

So the question is - should I choose the method (a) or method (b) ? I read in another stackoverflow question that connection pooling saved performance for me, I don't have to bother at all...

PS. It's an ASP.NET app - connections exist only during a web-request. Not a win-app or service.

Answer 1

Stick to option a.

The connection pooling is your friend.