MVC vs MVC2: Difference and Comparison

If there is any problem in software development, then its design pattern is the main solution to fix this. They are like pre-defined blueprints which we use to solve object-oriented design problems in your project.

Firstly it finds out where the problem is and then fixes it and also describes the procedure and its consequences.  MVC and MVC2 are two different approaches to the famous MVC (Model View Controller) architecture pattern.

Key Takeaways

1. MVC separates application logic into Model, View, and Controller, while MVC2 enhances this separation with two types of Controllers: Application and View.
2. MVC uses a single Controller to handle user input, whereas MVC2’s Application Controller manages shared functionality, and View Controller handles view-specific tasks.
3. MVC2 improves reusability and maintainability by reducing dependencies between components compared to MVC.

MVC vs MVC2

MVC is a software design pattern that separates an application into three interconnected components: the model, the view, and the controller. MVC is widely used in web development. MVC2, also known as “Model 2”, is a variation of the MVC pattern that separates the controller into two distinct parts: a front controller and a dispatcher. This pattern is commonly used in web development frameworks.

MVC was the first-generation approach in Java web applications where JavaServer Page (JSP) pages were used for user interface along with JavaBeans which could encapsulate the multiple objects in a single object to implement the MVC architecture.

User requests from the browser are sent to JSP which holds the Controller logic and binds the Model for data which would update the view and send the response back to the user which gets displayed in the user interface.

This approach combines Controller and View functionality within a JSP page and therefore breaks the MVC paradigm. 

MVC2 was introduced by Sun Microsystem org as a design pattern that doesn’t break the MVC paradigm, unlike MVC, where business logic was separated from the views and all the client requests were handled at one place rather than in each JSP file in MVC.

In the MVC2 pattern, JSP is replaced by servlets for the controller logic.

Comparison Table

Parameter of comparison	MVC	MVC2
Definition	In MVC, a single component is responsible for receiving requests and sending responses.	In MVC2, there are multiple components for receiving requests and sending responses. i.e. Controller & View.
Navigation	In MVC, each JSP has a controller and view logic that determines the navigation of the next view page that makes it redistributed	In MVC2, the servlet contains the navigation logic of the next view page which makes it centralized
Time-consuming	Takes more time to write the code to develop the custom JSP tags to avoid scriptlet tag	Takes less time to develop as all the navigation control is centralized.
Independency	Business logic and presentation Logic is combined in JSP, so web designers and web developers can’t work simultaneously.	Since it has separation between the logic and view that’s why designer and developer can work together.
Re-usability	It is harder to reuse and extend because of tight coupling between logic and view	It’s easy to reuse and extend which is suited for bigger applications

What is MVC?

MVC is an architectural design pattern for software design recurring problems which gives a high-level description approach to the solution. The MVC architecture has three modules: model, view, and controller.

Model: It represents the state of data (which gets displayed to the user on the view page).

View: The view module is the user interface through which the user performs the action and internally communicates with the server.

Controller: The controller module processes the user request and business logic and, with the help of a model, manipulates the data which gets displayed in the UI.

MVC starts with JSP accepting the client request that works together with JavaBeans for data processing logic which gets sent to the client.

The job is divided between JavaBeans and JSP, where JSP invokes the JavaBeans and business logic, wherein JavaBeans internally calls the database to save/get the data. In the end, JSP sends back the response to the client, which updates the view in the browser.

JavaBeans, which are also referred to as Beans, is responsible for the encapsulation of multi objects into a single object, while the JSP has both the Controller and  View logic.

MVC is also referred to as page-centric because of its direct access to another view page which is ideal for smaller applications.

What is MVC2?

Most software engineers think that MVC2 is an improved version of MVC, like version 2.0; it isn’t. Model 1 and Model 2 were developed concurrently and are two variants of how things should be done.

MVC2 is a more complex pattern where the uncoupling of the Application state and Presentation Control Logic is done.

It has a controller wherein logic has been written to process all the incoming requests and required action that needs to be taken, like navigation to a different view page or updating the state of the Model.

Here, in MVC2, the servlet acts as the controller layer which is also an interface between the View layer and Model layer wherein it receives the request from the client or User interface, which is nothing but the view layer, and processes them with appropriate validation if required.

JSP has view logic that internally uses the Beans, so if servlets update the state of the model, it gets reflected in the view page.

Unlike MVC, JSP in MVC2 doesn’t have both controllers and view logic; its sole responsibility is to fetch the updated state of the model from that servlet to display on the view Page. 

Main Differences Between MVC and MVC2

We confuse MVC2 as the 2.0 version of MVC, however, it’s not, it’s Java design models where MVC2 architecture is more complex and best suited for the bigger applications.

The distinguishing factor between MVC and MVC2 relations can be summed up on the following grounds:

1. In MVC, a single component is responsible for receiving requests and sending responses but in MVC2, and there are multiple components for receiving requests and sending responses. i.e. Controller & View.
2. MVC1 tightly couples the presentation logic with the business logic, but MVC 2 isolates or uncouples the presentation logic from business logic.
3. In MVC, Business logic and presentation Logic is combined in JSP, so web designers and web developers can’t work simultaneously, but in MVC2, there is a separation between logic and view, that’s why the designer and developer can work together.
4. In MVC 1, the controller and model both are JSP, or we could say they are written in the same JSP. But in MVC2, the controller is a servlet, and the model is a Java class.
5. MVC Doesn’t support the reusability of application components, whereas MVC2 supports the reusability of components which is good for bigger and more complex applications.

References

1. https://www.scientific.net/AMM.198-199.537
2. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/777091/
3. https://academic.oup.com/jpp/article-abstract/64/3/397/6135294