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Pau Dang
Pau Dang

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Exploring MVC vs Clean Architecture in Node.js

📌 What is MVC?

MVC (Model–View–Controller) is a classic software architecture pattern that divides an application into three parts:

  • Model: Manages data and business logic.
  • View: Handles the user interface and presentation.
  • Controller: Acts as the middleman, processing requests and coordinating between Model and View.

👉 Purpose: MVC is simple, fast to implement, and ideal for small to medium projects or quick prototypes.


📌 What is Clean Architecture?

Clean Architecture (popularized by Robert C. Martin) emphasizes separating business rules from infrastructure. It is often represented as concentric circles:

  • Entities: Core business objects.
  • Use Cases: Application-specific business rules.
  • Interface Adapters: Bridges between use cases and external systems.
  • Frameworks & Drivers: Databases, UI, and external tools.

👉 Purpose: Clean Architecture is designed for scalability, testability, and long-term maintainability. It’s perfect for large projects, microservices, or systems expected to evolve over time.


📊 MVC vs Clean Architecture

MVC

  • Structure: Model, View, Controller
  • Complexity: Simple, easy to learn
  • Best Use Case: Small/medium apps, CRUD APIs
  • Strengths: Quick development, familiar to most devs
  • Weaknesses: Controllers can become bloated

Clean Architecture

  • Structure: Entities, Use Cases, Adapters, Frameworks
  • Complexity: More complex, requires setup
  • Best Use Case: Large-scale apps, microservices
  • Strengths: Highly testable, maintainable, reduces framework dependency
  • Weaknesses: Setup takes more time, requires experienced team

🚀 How This Connects to Node.js Quickstart Generator

In my article, I introduce nodejs-quickstart-structure, a CLI tool that lets you scaffold a production-ready Node.js project in under 60 seconds. The best part? You can choose between MVC (speed and simplicity) or Clean Architecture (scalability and power) right from the start.

👉 Read the full article here: Nodejs Quickstart Generator

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