[Catalyst] App design questions

[Marcello]

Simon Miner ha scritto:
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: catalyst-bounces at lists.rawmode.org
> [mailto:catalyst-bounces at lists.rawmode.org] On Behalf Of Marcello
> Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2005 11:00 AM
> To: The elegant MVC web framework
> Subject: Re: [Catalyst] App design questions
> 
> David Storrs ha scritto:
> 
>>On Aug 17, 2005, at 9:42 AM, Marcello wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Simon Miner ha scritto:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Hi,
>>>> When writing a web site using Catalyst, is it better to use one
> 
> big 
> 
>>>>application with many controllers, or several smaller  applications 
>>>>with fewer controllers in which each app is broken  down by function
> 
> 
>>>>(i.e. order, search, etc.)?  In the scenario I am  considering, the 
>>>>site functions are somewhat distinct, but the  underlying models are
> 
> 
>>>>shared between them.  What are the pros and  cons of each approach?
>>>>
>>>
>>>Well, since the "models" are shared, I would say the natural
> 
> approach 
> 
>>>is one model (i.e. one database and an ORM package)  and  several 
>>>controllers, each of which deals with a particular set of  related 
>>>functions.
>>
>>
>>I think he's saying that the framework models (the Cat::M::<name>  
>>modules) are shared, whereas you are saying that the pattern Model
> 
> (the 
> 
>>'M' in MVC) is shared.
>>
>>Correct me if I'm wrong, either of you.
> 
> 
> Since the OP wrote "writing a web site" I assumed he was referring to *a
> 
> single website*, that's why I did not understand what that "several 
> smaller applications" was about.
> After reading your reply and Alexander's, and re-reading the OP, I'm not
> 
> entirely shure I fully understand it :-)
> He talks about "site functions" and "underlying models", so maybe he was
> 
> referring to a "web site" as a "hosting location" where you have 
> multiple websites sharing common functional modules (I would call them 
> catalyst plugins... ) and probably some of the database structure.
> 
> At this point I think the OP should clarify...
> 
> [Simon Miner] By "web site", I meant a single web site at a single
> hosting location, The site is a large e-commerce site that allows users
> to do a bunch of different things like search for products, create user
> accounts, and place and view orders.  These are the "functions" I
> referred to, and they are the things I was wondering about splitting out
> into separate Catalyst applications, since it can be argued that each is
> its own logical system.
> 
> However, it seems that the general feeling is that a
> one-app/many-controller approach is best for using Catalyst.  Correct me
> if I'm wrong here.
> 

I think you are right about the general feeling.

All in all, if those "functions" are so complex that they could 
conveniently be split into separate catalyst applications, I don't see 
why you should not do it.
However I see plenty of room for problems/headaches in the fact that the 
e-commerce site is *one*, therefore some parts of the database schema 
must be accessed by more than one "function".
You end up having to cut-n-paste some of the classes in the "model" part 
(i.e. the 'M' in MVC) among some or all of those applications.

Or maybe it's just me not seeing a better way to deal with shared models.

Marcello