MVC Framework

To work with the complex web applications, developers use different design
patterns to lay out their projects, to make the code less complex and easier to
work with. The most popular of these patterns is MVC also known as Model
View Controller.
The Model-View-Controller (MVC) framework is an architectural/design
pattern that separates an application into three main logical
components Model, View, and Controller. Each architectural component is
built to handle specific development aspects of an application. It isolates the
business logic and presentation layer from each other. It was traditionally used
for desktop graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Nowadays, MVC is one of the
most frequently used industry-standard web development frameworks to create
scalable and extensible projects. It is also used for designing mobile apps.
MVC was created by Trygve Reenskaug. The main goal of this design pattern
was to solve the problem of users controlling a large and complex data set by
splitting a large application into specific sections that all have their own
purpose.
Features of MVC
 It provides a clear separation of business logic, UI logic, and input
logic.
 It offers full control over your HTML and URLs which makes it easy to
design web application architecture.
 It is a powerful URL-mapping component using which we can build
applications that have comprehensible and searchable URLs.
 It supports Test Driven Development (TDD).
Components of MVC
The MVC framework includes the following 3 components:
 Controller
 Model
 View
MVC Architecture Design

Controller:
The controller is the component that enables the interconnection between the
views and the model so it acts as an intermediary. The controller doesn’t have
to worry about handling data logic, it just tells the model what to do. It
processes all the business logic and incoming requests, manipulates data using
the Model component, and interact with the View to render the final output.
Responsibilities:
 Receiving user input and interpreting it.
 Updating the Model based on user actions.
 Selecting and displaying the appropriate View.
Example: In a bookstore application, the Controller would handle actions such
as searching for a book, adding a book to the cart, or checking out.

View:
The View component is used for all the UI logic of the application. It
generates a user interface for the user. Views are created by the data which is
collected by the model component but these data aren’t taken directly but
through the controller. It only interacts with the controller.
Responsibilities:
 Rendering data to the user in a specific format.
 Displaying the user interface elements.
  Updating the display when the Model changes.
Example: In a bookstore application, the View would display the list of
books, book details, and provide input fields for searching or filtering books.

Model:
The Model component corresponds to all the data-related logic that the user
works with. This can represent either the data that is being transferred between
the View and Controller components or any other business logic-related data.
It can add or retrieve data from the database. It responds to the controller’s
request because the controller can’t interact with the database by itself. The
model interacts with the database and gives the required data back to the
controller.
Responsibilities:
 Managing data: CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations.
 Enforcing business rules.
 Notifying the View and Controller of state changes.
Example: In a bookstore application, the Model would handle data related to
books, such as the book title, author, price, and stock level.

Working of the MVC framework with Example

Let’s imagine an end-user sends a request to a server to get a list of students
studying in a class. The server would then send that request to that particular
controller that handles students. That controller would then request the model
that handles students to return a list of all students studying in a class.
 The flow of Data in MVC Components
The model would query the database for the list of all students and then return
that list back to the controller. If the response back from the model was
successful, then the controller would ask the view associated with students to
return a presentation of the list of students. This view would take the list of
students from the controller and render the list into HTML that can be used by
the browser.

The controller would then take that presentation and returns it back to the user.
Thus ending the request. If earlier the model returned an error, the controller
would handle that error by asking the view that handles errors to render a
presentation for that particular error. That error presentation would then be
returned to the user instead of the student list presentation.

As we can see from the above example, the model handles all of the data. The
view handles all of the presentations and the controller just tells the model and
view of what to do. This is the basic architecture and working of the MVC
framework.

Advantages of MVC
 Codes are easy to maintain and they can be extended easily.
 The MVC model component can be tested separately.
 The components of MVC can be developed simultaneously.
 It reduces complexity by dividing an application into three units. Model,
view, and controller.
 It supports Test Driven Development (TDD).
 It works well for Web apps that are supported by large teams of web
designers and developers.
 This architecture helps to test components independently as all classes
and objects are independent of each other
 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Friendly.
Disadvantages of MVC
 It is difficult to read, change, test, and reuse this model
 It is not suitable for building small applications.
 The inefficiency of data access in view.
 The framework navigation can be complex as it introduces new layers of
abstraction which requires users to adapt to the decomposition criteria of
MVC.
 Increased complexity and Inefficiency of data