The MVC Design Pattern

The MVC design pattern is most often
discussed in connection with servlet infrastructure. MVC
was originally designed to reduce the complexity of user interfaces in large, complex
information systems, and that's still what it's for.

A good application of MVC
should give a system five basic properties.

• Behavior that is easier to change
• A design that can be divided into modular subsystems
• Transparent subsystem behavior
• Plug-and-play subsystems
• Room to grow

In Beyond MVC: A New Look at the Servlet Infrastructure,
N. Alex Rupp looks at applying MVC to servlets
and uses the popular Struts framework as an example
of how it can be applied incorrectly.

The article touches on the history of MVC and spells out
what a correct implementation needs to do. Rupp goes beyond theory
and outlines how MVC should be applied in
the web tier.