MVP Architecture

MVP is an architectural pattern, a derivation of the Model–View–Controller. It's represented by three distinct components: Model, View and the Presenter. It was engineered to facilitate automated unit testing and improve the separation of concerns in presentation logic.

In examples you'll find a simple project built with MVP pattern in mind.

Dog.swift

import Foundation

enum Breed: String {
    case bulldog  = "Bulldog"
    case doberman = "Doberman"
    case labrador = "Labrador"
}

struct Dog {
    let name:  String
    let breed: String
    let age:   Int
}

DoggyService.swift

import Foundation

typealias Result = ([Dog]) -> Void

class DoggyService {

    func deliverDoggies(_ result: @escaping Result) {
        
        let firstDoggy  = Dog(name: "Alfred", breed: Breed.labrador.rawValue, age: 1)
        let secondDoggy = Dog(name: "Vinny",  breed: Breed.doberman.rawValue, age: 5)
        let thirdDoggy  = Dog(name: "Lucky",  breed: Breed.labrador.rawValue, age: 3)

        let delay = DispatchTime.now() + Double(Int64(Double(NSEC_PER_SEC)*2)) / Double(NSEC_PER_SEC)
        
        DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: delay) {
            result([firstDoggy,
                    secondDoggy,
                    thirdDoggy])
        }
    }
}

DoggyPresenter.swift

import Foundation

class DoggyPresenter {

    // MARK: - Private
    fileprivate let dogService: DoggyService
    weak fileprivate var dogView: DoggyView?

    init(dogService: DoggyService){
        self.dogService = dogService
    }

    func attachView(_ attach: Bool, view: DoggyView?) {
        if attach {
            dogView = nil
        } else {
            if let view = view { dogView = view }
        }
    }

    func getDogs(){
        self.dogView?.startLoading()
    
        dogService.deliverDoggies { [weak self] doggies in
            self?.dogView?.finishLoading()
        
        if doggies.count == 0 {
            self?.dogView?.setEmpty()
        } else {
            self?.dogView?.setDoggies(doggies.map {
                return DoggyViewData(name: "\($0.name) \($0.breed)",
                                      age: "\($0.age)")
                })
            }
        }
    }
}

struct DoggyViewData {
    let name: String
    let age:  String
}

DoggyView.swift

import Foundation

protocol DoggyView: NSObjectProtocol {
    func startLoading()
    func finishLoading()
    func setDoggies(_ doggies: [DoggyViewData])
    func setEmpty()
}

DoggyListViewController.swift

import UIKit

class DoggyListViewController: UIViewController, UITableViewDataSource {

    @IBOutlet weak var emptyView: UIView?
    @IBOutlet weak var tableView: UITableView?
    @IBOutlet weak var spinner:   UIActivityIndicatorView?

    fileprivate let dogPresenter = DoggyPresenter(dogService: DoggyService())
    fileprivate var dogsToDisplay = [DoggyViewData]()

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
    
        tableView?.dataSource = self
        spinner?.hidesWhenStopped = true
        dogPresenter.attachView(true, view: self)
        dogPresenter.getDogs()
    }

    // MARK: DataSource
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        return dogsToDisplay.count
    }

    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
        let cell = UITableViewCell(style: .subtitle, reuseIdentifier: "Cell")
        let userViewData = dogsToDisplay[indexPath.row]
        cell.textLabel?.text = userViewData.name
        cell.detailTextLabel?.text = userViewData.age
        return cell
    }
}

extension DoggyListViewController: DoggyView {

    func startLoading() {
        spinner?.startAnimating()
    }

    func finishLoading() {
        spinner?.stopAnimating()
    }

    func setDoggies(_ doggies: [DoggyViewData]) {
        dogsToDisplay = doggies
        tableView?.isHidden = false
        emptyView?.isHidden = true;
        tableView?.reloadData()
    }

    func setEmpty() {
        tableView?.isHidden = true
        emptyView?.isHidden = false;
    }
}

Remarks

Components:

(opens new window)

• Model is an interface responsible for the domain data (to be displayed or otherwise acted upon in the GUI)
• View is responsible for the presentation layer (GUI)
• Presenter is the "middle-man" between Model and View. It reacts to the user’s actions performed on the View, retrieves data from the Model, and formats it for display in the View

Component duties:

Model	View	Presenter
Communicates with DB layer	Renders data	Performs queries to the Model
Raising appropriate events	Receives events	Formats data from Model
	Very basic validation logic	Sends formatted data to the View
		Complex validation logic

Differences between MVC and MVP:

• View in MVC is tightly coupled with the Controller, the View part of the MVP consists of both UIViews and UIViewController
• MVP View is as dumb as possible and contains almost no logic (like in MVVM), MVC View has some business logic and can query the Model
• MVP View handles user gestures and delegates interaction to the Presenter, in MVC the Controller handles gestures and commands Model
• MVP pattern highly supports Unit Testing, MVC has limited support
• MVC Controller has lots of UIKit dependencies, MVP Presenter has none

Pros:

• MVP makes UIViewController a part of the View component it's dumb, passive and...less massive ;]
• Most of the business logic is incapsulated due to the dumb Views, this gives an excellent testability. Mock objects can be introduced to test the domain part.
• Separated entities are easier to keep in head, responsibilities are clearly divided.

Cons

• You will write more code.
• Barrier for unexperienced developers or for those who don't yet work with the pattern.