Value Objects

An object that represents a descriptive aspect of the domain with no conceptual identity is called a VALUE OBJECT.

(Eric Evans)

Two Entities with the same properties but with different Ids are considered as different entities. However, Value Objects have no Ids and they are considered as equals if they have the same property values.

The ValueObject Class

ValueObject is an abstract class that can be inherited to create a Value Object class.

Example: An Address class

public class Address : ValueObject
{
    public Guid CityId { get; private set; }

    public string Street { get; private set; }

    public int Number { get; private set; }

    private Address()
    {
        
    }
    
    public Address(
        Guid cityId,
        string street,
        int number)
    {
        CityId = cityId;
        Street = street;
        Number = number;
    }

    protected override IEnumerable<object> GetAtomicValues()
    {
        yield return Street;
        yield return CityId;
        yield return Number;
    }
}

• A Value Object class must implement the GetAtomicValues() method to return the primitive values.

ValueEquals

ValueObject.ValueEquals(...) method is used to check if two Value Objects are equals.

Example: Check if two addresses are equals

Address address1 = ...
Address address2 = ...

if (address1.ValueEquals(address2)) //Check equality
{
    ...
}

Best Practices

Here are some best practices when using Value Objects:

• Design a value object as immutable (like the Address above) if there is not a good reason for designing it as mutable.
• The properties that make up a Value Object should form a conceptual whole. For example, CityId, Street and Number shouldn't be separate properties of a Person entity. This also makes the Person entity simpler.

See Also

• Entities