layered

How do you pass data to layers in an n-tier application? I have mapped out 3 different methods. A) generic .net objects generic data tables, Hashtables, generic datasets, strings, ints etc... then using the datasets to fill your business objects which get sent to the UI layer. alt text http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/460/generic.png http://dabbleboard.com/draw?b=eiu165&i=26&c=54eef6f1ac01f03c85919518f4a24e798e57e133 Pro- No extra layers needed Con- Have to work with Generic datasets and tables in the business layer B) using an entities layer that the other layers would reference. This layer

What does it mean by N-Tiered and N-Layered architecture/design? Is there any difference between N-Tiered and N-Layered architecture/design? If yes, what is the difference? People often use the two terms interchangably in that they can describe an architecture as being both multi-layered and multi-tiered. My take on it is that generally a tier refers to some physical separation while a layer is more of a logical separation. For example, a typical web application I would say has a front end - what's displayed in the browser - and the actual application logic running on the application server,

I have been working on a custom module for Magento (ver. 1.8.0.0) that shows a list of related products of a certain product. In order to achieve this I have created my own module by overwriting the Mage_Catalog_Block_Product_List class. Basically here's how it works: From a controller I catch the products entity_id and I store the product in the registry so I can use it inside my custom written Block which is called list.php Here is the method that fills the product collection: protected function _getProductCollection() { if (is_null($this->_productCollection)) { $prod = Mage::registry(