When should an array of values become a full fledged model? My problem is an application that is littered with models for such mundane objects as Country, Degree, Profession, etc. which are all simply parts of a user registration form. Should these constant arrays just be hard-coded or is there another better way to store them than using ActiveRecord models?
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2 Answers
If it makes sense to have them as database tables, then it makes sense to have them as models. And I would argue that it does make sense to have at least some of these as database tables, because that way you can give your client the ability to edit them on-the-fly. I don't want a programmer to be responsible for maintaining a list of countries or professions.
(In a recent application I worked on that had an international focus, the ability for the client to edit the list of countries was a key requirement; in many settings, what countries are listed and what they are named have controversial political implications, so the client needed domain experts to discuss and decide on country names.)
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Reed G. Law
I agree. However, this client should not be able to change the countries because they are hard-coded into the mobile app. If these values needed to be user-editable I would definitely go with models.
Hardcoded Array is fine, creating a model for this is part of the antipatterns listed in 'Rails Antipatterns' from Chad Pytel
