Question

I am building MVC 4 application for some kind of web store. This is first time for me to do anything with ASP.NET so I spent some time reading about whole idea of mvc pattern, and how it is implemented in latest version.

I understood that I need to write Model for data, and I decided to do Code-first approach.

Also I like to different classes move in different files. And also different parts in different classes.

Now I not sure how should I organize model classes. When I make project with “Internet Application” template, I already get AccountModel with user information. It does not sound right for me that I should put information about products in that model. But if I make separate model I will need some kind of connection between this 2 models and I not sure how to make it.

Or should I put whole db in one model?

Answer 1

I would recommend putting everything into one Model, if it’s possible.

Here’s a couple of examples, from the code-behind point-of-view and databases:

1. I used a single Model, when I’ve had to access/manipulate data from a single database.
2. I used multiple Models, when I’ve had to access/manipulate data from multiple databases.

Most of the time I’ve only created a single data context, since multiple ones weren’t logical. Why have multiple data contexts, if you only have a single database?

To answer your question: I’m not sure how complex this “web store” will be, but I’d advise to create a single Model. You can always move things around later, if necessary.