Business Objects

What are Business Objects?

A business object represents a real-world entity relevant to a particular business domain. These objects encapsulate data and the logic associated with that data, serving as the building blocks of business-oriented applications.

It interacts with the data access layer to retrieve and manipulate data and the business logic layer to implement specific functionalities. They are intermediaries between the underlying data and the application’s user interface.

What are its characteristics

Here are the characteristics typical to business objects

• Data Encapsulation: They bundle data attributes and methods that operate on that data into a single unit.
• Business Logic Implementation They embody the core functionalities relevant to a business entity, such as calculations, validations, or workflows.
• Object-Oriented Design They are typically designed using object-oriented programming principles, with attributes representing properties and methods representing actions.

What are the advantages:

• Improved Maintainability: By separating business logic from the data layer and user interface, code becomes more modular and easier to maintain.
• Reusability: They can be reused across different parts of an application, reducing development time and effort.
• Data Integrity By encapsulating data manipulation logic within the object, data integrity rules can be enforced more effectively.

Key points to consider when using these

There are some key considerations to be taken while using business objects

• Granularity: The level of detail encapsulated within a business object needs to be carefully chosen. Overly granular objects can lead to complexity, while overly coarse objects might lack flexibility.
• Data Persistence: How these will be persisted and retrieved from the underlying data store needs to be considered. This might involve mapping object attributes to database tables.
• Security: Security measures should be implemented to ensure that only authorized users can access and modify data within business objects.

Examples of Business Objects

They can represent various entities depending on the specific business domain. Here are a few common examples:

• E-commerce: Customer, Product, Order, Shopping Cart
• Finance: Account, Transaction, Loan, Security
• Human Resources: Employee, Job Position, Department, Payroll
• Inventory Management: Item, Supplier, Warehouse, Purchase Order

These are just a few examples, and the specific business objects used in an application will vary depending on the business’s unique needs. They play a crucial role in developing robust and maintainable business applications. Their use promotes a clear separation of concerns, improves code reusability, and helps ensure data consistency.

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