MVC, which stands for Model, View, and Controller, is a widely used architectural pattern in software development.

What is MVC?

MVC is an architectural model, also known as a design pattern, that divides the developed software into three separate layers. Originally designed by Trygve Reenskaug in the 1970s for use with the Smalltalk language, the MVC model was used for many years to develop desktop applications. Over the years, MVC has also become actively used in web and mobile development processes.

MVC organizes the software development process and facilitates maintenance and development work throughout the software's lifecycle. It plays a role in the development of software that can be quickly scaled when necessary.

In MVC, models handle operations related to data, views handle the creation of the user interface, and controllers handle all the business logic. Many frameworks like Django, Laravel, Symphony, Spring MVC, and Ruby on Rails support software development with MVC architecture.

Components of MVC

MVC suggests dividing the software into three unrelated parts during the development process. The independent model, view, and controller layers work together to form the complete application. A closer look at the components of the MVC architecture:

Model

The model component is used to perform operations related to data. Communication with the database is carried out through models. Processes such as fetching data from the database, processing it, and sending data back to the database are conducted within the model.

View

The view is the interface part that users see and interact with. It uses HTML, CSS, and various JavaScript frameworks. All interface elements such as menus, buttons, and text boxes that appear on the user’s screen are located in the view layer.

Controller

The controller or controller part can be thought of as positioned between the model and view. User requests are transferred from the view to the controller. The controller then retrieves the necessary data through the model and returns it to the view, displaying it to the users.

Advantages of MVC

The MVC model used in software development simplifies the development process and helps produce easy-to-maintain, scalable products. The advantages of using the MVC architecture are:

• Contributes to a simpler and faster development phase.
• Facilitates collaboration among teams responsible for frontend, backend, and database in the project.
• Enables the development of easily maintainable software.
• Independent modifications can be made in components.
• Supports test-driven development (TDD).
• Can be used while developing desktop, web, and mobile applications.

Disadvantages of MVC

The disadvantages of MVC are negligible compared to the advantages it provides. Many disadvantages can be eliminated with a planned development process. The disadvantages of MVC include:

• Can lead to unnecessary complexity for simple applications.
• Especially in projects with different developers, it can make it difficult for developers to be familiar with the entire code.
• While MVC simplifies the development process, the complexity may increase as the application expands.
• If the model is updated frequently, i.e., if there is frequent communication with the database, it means that the view must also be constantly updated, which can lead to excessive use of resources.