Model View Controller

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What Does Model View Controller Mean?

Model View Controller (MVC) is a design pattern for computer software. It can be considered an approach to distinguish between the data model, processing control and the user interface. It neatly separates the graphical interface displayed to the user from the code that manages the user actions. The objective is to provide a framework which enforces better and more accurate design.

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Techopedia Explains Model View Controller

MVC architecture helps to split applications into logical units. In simple terms, this paradigm separates business logic from interface logic. This architecture makes the application more effective.

The model represents a unique entity – it could be a single object or more likely a structure. There is a one to one relationship with the entity and the object’s data. It is the model that responds to requests coming from the view regarding its status or state. In this way, the processing of data takes place only in the model, which ensures internal data consistency.

The view is used to present the graphical visualization of the user interface. It could filter out some aspects of the model or highlight others. It represents the input and output data in an interface using various elements such as pushbuttons, menus, dialog boxes, etc. To see the status of the application objects, the view queries the model through the controller.

The controller provides the link between the user interface (view) and the application processing logic (model). The controller uses the model methods to retrieve information about the application object, to change the status of the object and to inform the view about this change. In a sense the controller enables a user to make changes and see results.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.