Hey everyone! I've been working on an architectural design for my project and I'd love your opinions on whether I'm heading in the right direction based on best practices. Here's a quick breakdown of my architecture:
1. The View is responsible for rendering the content.
2. The Content manages the data that gets rendered.
3. Each node will have both a view and content, and they might include a utility builder for view manipulation.
4. Users will only get access to content for managing data associated with any node.
Here's a rough overview of the classes I'm working with:
- **ParentNode** has child nodes, a parent view, and parent content.
- **ChildNode** has its parent and child views, as well as content, plus an optional utility builder.
- **View** includes methods to update and render.
- **Content** gets initialized with a view.
- **Builder** requires a view when it's created.
Lastly, I'm considering whether to include a reference to ParentNode in ChildNode for circular dependency purposes, or if I should pass only the necessary data or views instead. Any thoughts on this would be great!
2 Answers
When you mention "rendering a view," are you referring to generating HTML for a web browser? It’s crucial to consider the complexity of your design in relation to your goals. A tree structure this abstract might be over-engineered for your uses. Aim for simplicity initially and only add complexity when absolutely necessary. This strategy will help keep your project manageable while you focus on core functionalities instead of getting bogged down by unnecessary abstractions.
Honestly, it's normal for your first attempt at any implementation to fall short; don't sweat too much about following best practices right off the bat. Your design does have some interesting elements, but a common practice in tree structures is to have a single `Node` class instead of separate `ParentNode` and `ChildNode`. This way, each node can manage its children more naturally. Typically, each `Node` would have a reference to its parent and an array for children, which allows for a more versatile setup.
I appreciate the insight! I'm following a class-oriented style, so I need a clear interface for the content. Do you think it’s justified to have both View and Content reference each other, or would that create too much complexity?