What is Model-View-Controller (MVC) ?

Model-View-Controller (MVC) is a software architectural pattern that separates the logic of a programming framework into three modules that are linked in its main program. It allows dividing the software's business logic and user interface.

To understand MVC in the context of web development we need to understand What are the main programming modules of a Web Application. These modules are:

1. Server-Side Program
2. Client-Side Program
3. Database

Server-Side Program

The Server-Side program works on the server. It takes data from the Client-Side program via the GET or POST request method and stores the data in the Database. It also receives data from the database and provides the data to the client-side program to display the response. For Example ASP.Net, Java, Perl, PHP, Python, NodeJS, and Swift are the Server-Side Program.

PHP and NodeJS is very popular Server-Side open-source programing language. Open-source programming languages are available for free to use and build commercial applications. The most popular CMS (Content Management System) WordPress uses PHP as a Server-Side programing language.

Client-Side Program

The client-side program works on the client's (user's) devices, hence the same name. It collects the input data from users via Forms and sends it to Server-Side Programs to store data in Database or Sessions. It also fetches the data from Server and displays the response. For Example : HTML, CSS, JavaScript are Client-Side Programs.

Client-side programs also control the behavior of data display. It decides the color, size, position, and many other things. Lazy load is one of the popular client-side methods that break a large set of data into chunks and loads it with a certain action like on state change or page scroll or button click etc.

JavaScript is the most popular Client-Side programing language worldwide. There is a Framework called Framework7 that is completely built on JavaScript and based on the Model-View-Controller pattern. It allows the creation of web applications as well as Mobile applications at the same time. It can also be integrated with Server-side Frameworks like Laravel.

Learn framework7 - Framework7 Tutorial: What Is Framework7?

Database

A Database is a program that stores data for later use. The database collects data from server-side programs that are presented by clients (users). The database controls the flow of output data and decides what and how the data should be returned to the server-side in order to serve as a response. For Example SQL, MongoDB, Oracle, MariaDB, and SQLite are Database programs.

Learn MongoDB - What Is MongoDB? : Introduction, MongoDB Architecture, NoSQL Concept, and Comparison with SQL Database

So, with the above topic now we have a clear concept of three basic modules of a web application. Now we are moving back to Model-View-Controller which is our main topic. MVC i.e., Model-View-Controller pattern was designed to navigate all these three components in the web application.

Basic Principle of MVC

The basic principle of Model-View-Controller can be understood with the help of the below image.

 

The Model View Controller (MVC) architecture pattern specifies that an application consists of a data model, presentation information, and control information. The pattern requires that each of these be separated into separate objects. MVC is more of an architectural pattern, but not for a complete application.

The Model can communicate with its data logic to the database. The model receives commands from the controller to pull data from the database or push the data to the database.

The View communicates only with the controller and receives the command from the controller on how to display data. The view is a User Interface it also sends the data to the controller via forms. The view has the responsibility to control the data displayed to the user.

By reading the above two paragraphs it can be easily understood that The Controller is a bridge between The Modal & The View that can control the initiation of The View and send/received the data to The View which was received from or sent to The Modal.

Now it is easy to understand that View can handle the Client-side programs and Controller is a Server-Side program and Modal is also a Server-Side program that directly communicates with the Database.

Why should use MVC Frameworks?

If you are a web developer and fond of writing neat & clean codes then MVC Frameworks can be the best choice for you because the most attractive concept of the MVC pattern is the separation of concerns.

This allows the front-end code to be separated from the back-end code and split into two separate components. So, it becomes much easier to manage the codes and make changes on one side without messing with each other.

Laravel & Mean-Stack are the best examples of Model-View-Controller (MVC). Learning Laravel is very easy because it has large community support and the Laravel framework gives the boosted security also.

Learn Laravel - Laravel Tutorial: What Is Laravel?

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