Described are collection view objects, which provide a user interface view over a data collection, where each view may have its own sort order, filter and/or grouping criteria, as well as current item semantics. A user interface element is bound to a data collection, such as via markup language (e.g., XAML). At runtime, a collection view object is instantiated as an indirection between the data collection and the user interface element, whereby a collection of data items is viewed according to how each collection view object is currently configured with respect to sorting, filtering and/or grouping. Multiple collection views may be specified on the same data collection, whereby distinct simultaneous views of the data items may be presented in different user interface elements. The collection view object dynamically updates the displayed data as changes are made in the data collection. A current item may be selected within the collection view.