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MVC Architecture: Simplifying Web Application Development

The Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture is a popular approach for building web applications. Learn how it simplifies development and improves scalability.

Written by RamotionMay 2, 202310 min read

Last updated: Feb 22, 2024

Introduction

Web apps are everywhere these days. Every company wants an online presence. There are a lot of them: Amazon, Google, and Twitter. The MVC architecture is a popular way to build web applications that allow companies the benefits of scalability, re-usability, and maintainability – something that's very important for the success of any online business. The purpose of this article is to provide you with a brief history of web applications, to give an overview of how MVC architecture alleviates some scalability issues, and to provide specific examples of how MVC architecture can help complex web applications operate more smoothly than with other approaches.

The MVC pattern is a software design pattern for web applications. The MVC framework separates an application into three main components: models, views, and controllers. Models are used to store data and business logic; views display data from a model on the screen; and controllers manage user interactions with these two components.

Brief history of MVC Framework

The history of web applications is a long one, but it began with the introduction of the first web browser in 1993. This was Netscape Navigator, which provided users with an easy way to access information on the Internet without having to know how to code HTML or any other language. As more and more people started accessing the web and interacting online, companies began noticing that they needed new ways to build their websites to make them more user-friendly.

This led to the introduction of the Model-View-Controller (MVC) framework, which provided a simple way for web developers to create complex applications. The MVC framework was first introduced by Trygve Reenskaug in 1979 as a way to manage interactions between users and computers and is still used today.

MVC Architecture

High-level overview of the MVC architecture

The MVC framework is a software architecture that separates the user interface (UI), data storage, and business logic into three separate components. This allows developers to work on each component independently without affecting the other two parts of the application.

The MVC framework consists of three main components:

Model

The model represents the data logic and data that is stored in your application. This can be a simple data structure like an array or dictionary, or it can be a complex data set with properties and methods. The model typically stores information about what happened in one or more events, such as user input or database queries.

The model also provides a way to access data from the UI. This includes storing user input, retrieving data from the database, and performing other tasks that are necessary for your application’s functionality.

View

The view is where your application’s user interface lives and this is what the user sees. It takes the data provided by the model and displays it on screen in a way that users can interact with. The view typically contains HTML markup, CSS styles, and JavaScript code that provides interactive functionality like form validation or drag-and-drop interactions.

It is important to note that the view does not contain any logic. It only displays data and handles user input.

Controller

The controller is a component that sits between the model and the view. It is responsible for handling user interaction with the view, as well as performing any logic necessary to prepare data for display. For example, if a user clicks on a button in your application’s UI, this will trigger an event in JavaScript which will be handled by the controller—in turn, it can use this information to retrieve data from the database or perform other tasks.

A diagram of MVC architecture in a web application:

Advantages of MVC

The MVC pattern is a proven, popular way to structure your code. MVC architecture helps you to organize your web application and make it more manageable. It allows you to separate business logic from presentation logic, which makes it very easy to add new features or change existing ones without affecting the whole application.

Clean and organized code

MVC helps you to write clean and organized code. When you use the MVC architecture, the controller handles all requests and responses. This means that it will be responsible for retrieving data from a database or performing other tasks which will be handled by the controller—in turn, it can use this information to retrieve data from the database or perform other tasks.

This makes it very easy to maintain and extend the application. It also helps you to write clean code as there is no need to write code that will handle data retrieval or perform other tasks which will be handled by the controller.

Easy to test and debug

When you use the MVC design pattern, it’s easy to test and debug your application. This is because the controller can be easily isolated from other components in your application. You can write tests for the controller without having any dependencies on other parts of the system.

Improved scalability and flexibility

MVC pattern helps you to build scalable and flexible applications. This is because the model, view, and controller components can be shared across multiple applications. So, if you have a set of requirements that are similar to those used in another project, you don’t have to spend a lot of time writing new code for them again.

Improved team productivity and collaboration

MVC pattern is a great way to improve team productivity and collaboration because it enables you to divide the work among different teams, who can then work in parallel. For example, one team could focus on writing code for the model component and another team could take care of coding for the view component.

By dividing the work among different teams, you can improve team productivity and collaboration. This is because you don’t have to wait for one team to finish before starting work on another component of your application. You can also easily add more teams if there are too many tasks that need to be completed in parallel.

Disadvantages of MVC

Increased complexity

The main disadvantage of MVC is increased complexity. As your application grows, the number of files that need to be maintained increases as well. This makes it difficult for developers to keep track of every file and ensure that they are always up-to-date with the latest changes in the codebase.

In practice, this means that developers will have to spend more time navigating between different files and trying to find out where specific code is being used. You also need a lot of experience with MVC frameworks in order to create applications that are highly maintainable.

Steep learning curve

The learning curve for MVC is quite steep. This can be a problem if you are trying to create an application with a small team or one that has only recently started using this technology. It takes time for developers to learn how all the different pieces fit together, including routing, controllers, and views.

Potential performance issues

MVC applications can suffer from performance issues when they are not built correctly. If the code is not well-written, it can cause rendering problems and slow down your entire application.

Limited control over the user interface

MVC is not very flexible when it comes to the user interface. You have very little control over how the application looks and feels, which can be problematic if you have a specific look and feel in mind for your project.

Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails is an open-source web development framework written in Ruby programming language created by David Heinemeier Hansson. It provides a number of features that make it easy to develop and maintain complex web applications. It's built on top of the object-oriented programming language Ruby and follows the model–view–controller (MVC) architectural pattern.

Rails are MVC based, which means it separates all the UI components into three different parts: Model, View, and Controller.

Django

Django is a free and open-source web application framework, written in Python. It follows MVC architecture and provides an integrated set of components for the rapid development of complex, database-driven websites. Django is developed by the Django Software Foundation (DSF), and it's licensed under the Apache License, version 2.0.

Laravel

Laravel is a free, open-source PHP framework for web development. It was created by Taylor Otwell and intended for developing and designing web applications following the model–view–controller (MVC) architectural pattern primarily using the PHP programming language. Laravel aims to make the development process a pleasing one for developers who use it.

Spring MVC

The Spring MVC framework is an open-source Java web application framework that provides a robust set of features for developing enterprise-grade MVC applications. It’s designed to be easy to use, highly testable, and extensible.

Spring MVC enables you to build web applications in Java without having to worry about the plumbing code that makes up the middle tier (the controller). It handles all of this for you, leaving you free to concentrate on your application logic. It also provides support for internationalization (i18n) and localization (l10n), so you can easily display content in multiple languages.

MVC Examples

Basic CRUD application using MVC architecture

A basic CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) application using MVC architecture would involve creating a model for the data, a view for the user interface, and a controller to handle user input and data operations. The user would be able to create new records, read existing ones, update them, and delete them through the interface, with the controller handling the interactions between the view and the model. This architecture provides a structured and modular approach to web application development, making it easier to manage and scale the application over time.

Sample code snippet demonstrating MVC implementation

Here's a sample code snippet demonstrating the implementation of the MVC architecture in Ruby on Rails:

Model

class User < ApplicationRecord
  validates :name, presence: true
  validates :email, presence: true, uniqueness: true
end
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View

<h1>Users</h1>
<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Name</th>
      <th>Email</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <% @users.each do |user| %>
      <tr>
        <td><%= user.name %></td>
        <td><%= user.email %></td>
      </tr>
    <% end %>
  </tbody>
</table>
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Controller

class UsersController < ApplicationController
  def index
    @users = User.all
  end

  def new
    @user = User.new
  end

  def create
    @user = User.new(user_params)

    if @user.save
      redirect_to users_path, notice: "User created successfully."
    else
      render :new
    end
  end

  private

  def user_params
    params.require(:user).permit(:name, :email)
  end
end
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This code defines a User model with name and email attributes, an index view to display all users, and actions in the UsersController that allow us to create new users or see them listed by name.

Conclusion

In this article, we explored the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture in web applications, which separates an application into three interconnected components: the model, view, and controller. The model represents the data and business logic, the view handles the user interface, and the controller acts as the intermediary between the two, handling user input and data operations.

We also looked at a sample implementation of the MVC architecture in Ruby on Rails, which demonstrated how the three components work together to create a structured and modular web application.

Overall, the MVC architecture is a popular approach for building web applications due to its modularity, scalability, and maintainability. It provides a clear separation of concerns, making it easier to manage and modify the different components of an application. However, it can be challenging to implement correctly and requires careful planning and design.

By using MVC architecture, web developers can create more organized and efficient applications that are easier to maintain and scale over time. As technology continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how the MVC architecture evolves as well to meet the changing needs of web development.

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