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Why should I isolate my domain entities from my presentation layer?

Asked 2009-05-04T18:19:02.973
93

One part of domain-driven design that there doesn't seem to be a lot of detail on, is how and why you should isolate your domain model from your interface. I'm trying to convince my colleagues that this is a good practice, but I don't seem to be making much headway...

They use domain entities where ever they please in the presentation and interface layers. When I argue to them that they should be using display models or DTOs to insulate the Domain layer from the interface layer, they counter that they don't see the business value in doing something like that, because now you have a UI object to maintain as well as the original domain object.

So I'm looking for some concrete reasons I can use to back this up. Specifically:

  1. Why should we not use domain objects in our presentation layer?
    (if the answer is the obvious one, 'decoupling', then please explain why this is important in this context)
  2. Should we use additional objects or constructs to isolate our domain objects from the interface?
design-patterns architecture domain-driven-design presentation-layer data-transfer-objects
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2 Answers

55

Quite simply, the reason is one of implementation and drift. Yes, your presentation layer needs to know about your business objects to be able to represent them properly. Yes, initially it looks like there is a lot of overlap between the implementation of the two types of objects. The problem is, as time goes on, things get added on both sides. Presentation changes, and the needs of the presentation layer evolve to include things that are completely independent of your business layer (color, for example). Meanwhile, your domain objects change over time, and if you don't have appropriate decoupling from your interface, you run the risk of screwing up your interface layer by making seemingly benign changes to your business objects.

Personally, I believe the best way to approach things is through the strictly enforced interface paradigm; that is, your business object layer exposes an interface that is the only way that it can be communicated with; no implementation details (i.e. domain objects) about the interface are exposed. Yes, this means that you have to implement your domain objects in two locations; your interface layer and in your BO layer. But that reimplementation, while it may initially seem like extra work, helps enforce the decoupling that will save TONS of work at some point in the future.

answered 2009-05-04T18:28:00.190
-1

The only sensible reason for adding additional mapping between generalized and domain specific semantics is that you have (access to) an existing body of code (and tools) that are based on a generalized (but mappable) semantics distinct from your domain semantics.

Domain driven designs work best when used in conjunction with an orthogonal set of functional domain frameworks (such as ORM, GUI, Workflow, etc.). Always remember that it is only in the outer layer adjacencies that domain semantics need to be exposed. Typically this is the front end (GUI) and persistent back-end (RDBM,ORM). Any effectively designed intervening layers can and should be domain invariant.

answered 2009-05-04T18:38:15.330

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