Professional ASP.NET MVC 2

Chapter 5. Controllers

In Chapter 2, we discussed the Model-View-Controller pattern in general and then followed up with how ASP.NET MVC compared with ASP.NET Web Forms. Now it's time to get into a bit more detail about one of the core elements of the three-sided pattern that is MVC — the Controller.

It's probably best to start out with a definition and then dive into detail from there. Keep this definition in the back of your mind as you read this chapter, as it helps to ground the discussion ahead with what a Controller is all about, and what it's supposed to do.

You might want to remember a quick definition: Controllers within the MVC pattern are responsible for responding to user input, often making changes to the Model in response to user input. In this way, Controllers in the MVC pattern are concerned with the flow of the application, working with data coming in, and providing data going out to the relevant View.

HISTORY OF THE CONTROLLER

Originally when MVC was conceived (as discussed in Chapter 2), things like graphical user interfaces (GUIs) with buttons and input boxes didn't exist. The event-driven concept had not been created yet, so there needed to be a different way to "listen" for user input and work with it.

Back then, when the user pressed a key or clicked the screen, a process would "listen," and that process was the Controller. The Controller was responsible for receiving that input, interpreting it and updating whatever data class was required (the Model), and then ...