using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Script.Serialization;

namespace Mvc4TwitterBootStrapTest.Controllers
{
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        [HttpGet]
        public ActionResult Index()
        {
            var array = new[]
                {
                     "Afghanistan",
                     "Albania",
                     "Algeria",
                     "American Samoa",
                     "Andorra",
                     "Angola",
                     "Anguilla",
                     "Antarctica",
                     "Antigua and/or Barbuda"
                };
            ViewBag.JsonString = new JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(array);
            return View();
        }
    }
}

@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Index";    
}
<h2>
    Typeahead</h2>
@Html.TextBox("search", null, htmlAttributes:
                              new
                              {
                                  autocomplete = "off",
                                  data_provide = "typeahead",
                                  data_items = 8,
                                  data_source = @ViewBag.JsonString
                              })

<input autocomplete="off" data-items="8" data-provide="typeahead" 
data-source="[&quot;Afghanistan&quot;,&quot;Albania&quot;,&quot;Algeria&quot;,&quot;American Samoa&quot;,&quot;Andorra&quot;,&quot;Angola&quot;,&quot;Anguilla&quot;,&quot;Antarctica&quot;,&quot;Antigua and/or Barbuda&quot;]" 
id="search" name="search" type="text" value="" />

        public static MvcHtmlString TypeaheadFor<TModel, TValue>(
                this HtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper,
                Expression<Func<TModel, TValue>> expression,
                IEnumerable<string> source,
                int items = 8)
        {
            var jsonString = new JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(source);
            return htmlHelper.TextBoxFor(
                expression,
                new
                {
                    autocomplete = "off",
                    data_provide = "typeahead",
                    data_items = items,
                    data_source = jsonString
                }
            );
        }

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Script.Serialization;

namespace Mvc4TwitterBootStrapTest.Controllers
{
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        [HttpGet]
        public JsonResult GetNames(string term)
        {
            var array = new[]
                {
                     "Afghanistan",
                     "Albania",
                     "Algeria",
                     "American Samoa",
                     "Andorra",
                     "Angola",
                     "Anguilla",
                     "Antarctica",
                     "Antigua and/or Barbuda"
                };

            var results = array.Where(n =>
                n.StartsWith(term, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));

            return Json(results.ToArray(), JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
        }
    }
}

@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Index";
    var url = Url.Action("GetNames", "Home");
}
<h2>
    Typeahead</h2>
@Html.TextBox("search", null, htmlAttributes:
                              new
                              {
                                  autocomplete = "off",
                                  data_provide = "typeahead",
                                  data_items = 8
                              })
@section JavaScript
{
    <script type="text/javascript">
            $(function () {
                $('#search').typeahead({
                    source: function (term, process) {
                        return $.getJSON('@url', { term: term }, function (data) { return process(data); });
                    }
                });
            });
    </script>
}