Service Object (Ruby on Rails)
Service objects are Plain Old Ruby Objects used to extract code from a part of the application where it doesn’t really belong and isolate it in its own, testable file.
They often look like:
class ServiceObject
def initialize(param1, param2)
# set params
end
def do_something
# do something
end
private
def private_methods
#
end
end
They can then be called like this:
class SomeController < ApplicationController
service_object = ServiceObject.new(params[:a], params[:b])
if service_object.do_something
# Happy path
else
# Sad path
end
end
This simplifies your controller and makes it much more understandable. It also separates the controller concerns (responding to requests and returning html/json/etc) from the service object concerns.
You will also see service objects that are structured like this:
class ServiceObject
def self.call(params)
# Do everything here
end
end
Which are then called like this:
class SomeController < ApplicationController
if ServiceObject.call(params[:a])
# Happy path
else
# Sad path
end
end