which is better ModelAndView or string return with controller

[kartik hedau]

Hi all
i am newbie in spring MVC.
i want to know which is better way,either to return ModelAndView or just return String with controller?? I have implemented simple login demo with both way and both are working well.

[Naresh Chaurasia]

Returning ModelAndView is better choice, as you can pass values from controller to target JSPs. Check out the following link for example: Spring MVC

[Nam Ha Minh]

kartik hedau wrote:Hi all
i am newbie in spring MVC.
i want to know which is better way,either to return ModelAndView or just return String with controller?? I have implemented simple login demo with both way and both are working well.

Well, in my opinion, it depends on a particular context. Sometimes I find returning a String is useful, sometimes returning a ModelAndView object is preferred. It's flexible, depending one's need and habit.

[Bill Gorder]

I pretty much always return a String. Never a ModelAndView.

If I need a Model I just pass it in as a parameter

public myRequestMappingMethod(Model model){
    model.addAttribute("myAttribute", someobject);
    return "viewName";
}

In the above code snippet I can add any thing I need to the model provided and it will be available to the view for rendering.


More often though you pass in a model attribute

public myRequestMappingMethod(@ModelAttribute("person") Person person){
   person.doSomething();
   return "viewName";

}

In this case if its a POST you will probably get a Person object populated from the form being submitted. But if the person attribute is not there, then Spring will call the default constructor on the Person object and pass in a new instance of Person and automatically add it to the model for use in the view. In either event there is never a need to return a ModelAndView anymore.

[kartik hedau]

Well, in my opinion, it depends on a particular context. Sometimes I find returning a String is useful, sometimes returning a ModelAndView object is preferred. It's flexible, depending one's need and habit.



thank you for your thoughts, but can you elaborate more on " depends on a particular context"

[Bill Gorder]

That is the beauty, you can choose whatever you are most comfortable with.