Flux and MVC are fundamentally different architectural patterns designed to manage the flow of data within an application, but they approach this task in distinct ways.
Flux is centered around a unidirectional data flow that simplifies state management and makes the flow of data through the application predictable. It comprises four main components: Actions, Dispatcher, Stores, and Views (or Components). Actions are payloads of information that trigger changes. The Dispatcher is a central hub that dispatches Actions to the Stores, which hold the application's state and logic. Finally, Views are UI components that query the Stores for the current state and re-render when the state changes. This unidirectional flow (Action -> Dispatcher -> Store -> View) ensures a clear, straightforward path for data updates, reducing the complexity and potential for bugs.
MVC (Model-View-Controller), on the other hand, employs a bidirectional data flow where Models, Views, and Controllers interact in a more intertwined manner. The Model represents the data and business logic, the View displays the data, and the Controller acts as an intermediary that handles user input and updates the Model and View accordingly. In MVC, the View observes the Model, and the Controller can update both the Model and the View, leading to a more dynamic but potentially more complex interaction pattern.
Key Points:
MVC provides a robust way to separate concerns and manage interactions in traditional applications, Flux's unidirectional data flow offers a more predictable and scalable approach, particularly suited to modern front-end applications with complex state requirements, such as those built with React. The key difference lies in Flux's centralized Dispatcher and unidirectional flow, contrasted with MVC's bidirectional interactions among its components.