MVC :: What is a model?

Question

I am at a point where I must make a decision about models. I am aware that models are what you use to do all your database manipulation. But are models restricted to this?

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Answer 1

No they are not just restricted to database access.

In an MVC application the M will usually be the model of your domain. This means it can encapsulate business logic and data. I would suggest that you avoid an anaemic domain model. You can even setup your model to be persistence ignorant. To get an idea of what I mean have a look at this talk on Crafting Wicked Domain Models.

On the View and Controller side I'd recommend always using what's called a View Model, even when it feels like a 1 to 1 mapping. Sooner or later you'll find out the models are actually different and you don't want to give a View any more responsibility than translating a simple View Model directly into HTML or other rendering format.

The Controllers job is then to just execute behaviours on your Model and create View Models for the Views.