MVC and MVP

In two previous posts I discussed the Model View Controller pattern and the various flavors of it: MVC is What Exactly? and MVC in Windows Applications.

In this posts I presented my understanding of MVC that I had gained from various books, articles, blogs, and thought experiments. Shortly after I encountered the term MVP: Model View Presenter. Then I found some articles that described passive MVC differently than I had described it. Then I found some articles about PAC: Presentation Abastraction Control.

In short, I discovered that there doesn't seem to be one definitive definition of MVC, nor of MVP.

From what I can tell, MVP is just MVC where the Controller is allowed to do more work. In that regard, it is more similar to what I described in my posts on MVC. I have also seen arguments that the way I described Passive MVC is actually MVP.

In the end all the issues I discussed then still apply. I just wanted to clarify that this area of design is full of lots of slightly different ways of accomplishing the same goal, and everyone seems to use a different word to describe it.

Update 9/11/2008: Follow up post on MVC and MVP with more details