Question

Which MVC diagram is correct? Each have different arrows…

Diagram 1

Diagram 2

_{(source: stannard.net.au)}

Diagram 3

Diagram 4

_{(source: sun.com)}

Diagram 5

_{(source: shopno-dinga.com)}

Answer 1

They all are.

MVC is a vague pattern.

My view on MVC is that :

Controller

Object has a collection of models and has methods for viewing and editing the models. It talks to Models and returns instances of Views with models applied on them.

View

Has the definition of a model attached to it and is just a set of functionality to display a specific model.

Model

Encapsulates data. Has methods for returning state and changing state.

//Controller
import Views

class Controller
  private Models

//View
import Model

class View

//Model
class Model

A Model doesn’t need to know anything about the View / Controller. A View needs to know the definition of a Model. A controller needs to own Models and needs to know definitions of Views.

You can couple them more tightly, that is optional.