There are a couple of debates in some companies I've worked for about models being entities or not. In CI3, it usually ended something with 2 files: models/User_model.php and models/entities/User.php.
CI3 Example:
But for future enhancements of CI4, PHP Traits can be used instead of extending \CodeIgniter\Model.
CI4 Example:
This can be useful for something like:
The reason for this is for the developer to have the flexibility of whether or not his model is a real model, which can connect to a database, or just a plain entity by not using any model Traits at all.
CI3 Example:
PHP Code:
$i = $this->input;
$user = new User();
$user->email = $i->post('email');
$user->password = $i->post('password');
$this->user_model->create($user);
But for future enhancements of CI4, PHP Traits can be used instead of extending \CodeIgniter\Model.
CI4 Example:
PHP Code:
final class UserModel
{
private $email;
private $pwd;
use BasicCRUD;
use AutoDBConnector;
use InModelValidation;
//Email and password getters and setters...
}
This can be useful for something like:
PHP Code:
final class App
{
private $users;
public function addUser(UserModel $user):bool
{
//Add user from list.
//Return bool.
}
}
The reason for this is for the developer to have the flexibility of whether or not his model is a real model, which can connect to a database, or just a plain entity by not using any model Traits at all.