MVC Architecture

<h2>What?</h2>

<p>A set of patterns and concepts that define the main <b>divisions</b> of your application, their responsibilities, and how they should work together.</p>

<p>A blueprint for the overall structure of your application that dictates how responsibilities should be delegated, and outlines a pattern of <b>communication</b><br />between each working part.</p>

<h2>Why?</h2>

<h3>Mental Model</h3>
<ul>
  <li>makes abstract concepts more tangible</li>
  <li>app logic is easier to reason about when it's grouped under an 'umbrella' term</li>
</ul>

<h3>Separation of Concerns & Modularity</h3>
<ul>
  <li>adds flexibility & durability for rapid iterations</li>
  <li>makes it easier to reuse code</li>
  <li>promotes efficient collaboration</li>
</ul>

<h3>Predictability</h3>
<ul>
  <li>can anticipate how an app will work and where it might break</li>
  <li>allows us to build frameworks to solve common problems</li>
</ul>

<h2>Different Schools of Thought</h2>

<h3>MOVE</h3>
<p>[ models - operations - views - events ]</p>

<h3>MVP</h3>
<p>[ models - views - presenters ]</p>

<h3>MVC</h3>
<p>[models - views - controllers ]</p>

<h2>MVC Breakdown:</h2>
<h3>The divisions</h3>
<p>[ models - views - controllers ]</p>

<h2>Models</h2>
<p>Define and structure what data the application should contain</p>
<br />
<p><i>i.e. grocery object, list of groceries</i></p>

<h2>Views</h2>
<p>Define how the application data should be displayed; the visual representation of the model</p>
<br />
<p><i>i.e. UI of grocery app, buttons, list elements, etc</i></p>

<h2>Controllers</h2>
<p>Dictates how a model or view should be updated in response to user input; the link between a user and the system</p>
<br />
<p><i>i.e. click on button to add a grocery, update the grocery list in state</i></p>

<h2>MVC Example: The Browser</h2>

<h2>Life without Frameworks</h2>

<h2>Data Binding & Templating: before</h2>
<pre>
  <code class="javascript js">
  &lt;input type="text" class="current-grocery" /&gt;
  &lt;div id="grocery-name"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

  $('input.current-grocery').on('keyup', (e) => {
    $('#grocery-name').text(`Current Word: ${this.val()}`);
  });
  </code>
</pre>

<h2>Data Binding & Templating: after</h2>
<pre>
  <code class="html">
<input type="text" onChange={this.handleChange()} />
Current Grocery: {this.state.currentGrocery}
  </code>
</pre>

<h2>Routing: before</h2>
<h2>😞</h2>

<h2>Routing: after</h2>
<pre>
  <code class="javascript js">   &lt;Router&gt;
&lt;Route path="/" component={App}&gt;
  &lt;Route path="groceries/" component={GroceryList} /&gt;
  &lt;Route path="groceries/:id" component={GroceryDetail} /&gt;
&lt;/Route&gt;   &lt;/Router&gt;
  </code>
</pre>

<h2>Communication: before</h2>
<h2>😞</h2>

<h2>Communication: after</h2>
<pre>
  <code class="javascript">
  // Model
  const groceryStore = {
    groceries: [],
    currentGrocery: null
  }

  // View
  <input type="text" onChange={this.handleChange(e)} />
  Current Grocery: {this.state.currentGrocery}

  // Controller Functions
  handleChange(e) => {
    dispatch('groceryChanged', e.target.value);
  }

  groceryChanged(grocery => {
    type: 'GROCERY_CHANGED', // action
    grocery
  });

  case GROCERY_CHANGED: // reducer
    return Object.assign({}, state, {
      currentGrocery: action.grocery,
    });
  </code>
</pre>

<h2>The Frameworks</h2>

<h2><a href="http://backbonejs.org/">Backbone.js</a></h2>
<ul>
  <li>Small and lightweight</li>
  <li>Many 3rd-party libraries built on top</li>
  <li><b>MVC Implementation:</b> Models/Collections - Views - Routes</li>
</ul>

<h2><a href="https://angularjs.org/">Angular</a></h2>
<ul>
  <li>Larger framework, gives you a lot for free</li>
  <li>Very flexible despite its size - a "framework to build a framework"</li>
  <li><b>MVC Implementation:</b> Angular Data - Components - Directives</li>
</ul>

<h2><a href="http://emberjs.com/">Ember</a></h2>
<ul>
  <li>Larger framework, gives you a lot for free</li>
  <li>Favors convention over configuration - much more opinionated, less flexible</li>
  <li><b>MVC Implementation:</b> Ember Data - Components - Services</li>
</ul>

<h2><a href="https://facebook.github.io/react/">React</a></h2>
<ul>
  <li>Considered to be more of a library than a framework</li>
  <li>Often described as "just the view layer" of MVC</li>
  <li><b>MVC Implementation:</b> Redux Store - React Components - Actions/Reducers</li>
</ul>