Is it bad practice that a controller calls a repository instead of a service?
To explain more:
I figure out that in good design controllers call services and services use repositories.
But sometimes in controller I don't have/need any logic and just need to fetch from the database and pass it to the view.
And I can do it by just calling the repository – no need to call the service. Is this bad practice?
Best Answer
No, think of it this way: a repository is a service (also).
If the entities you retrieve through the repository handle most of the business logic there is no need for other services. Just having the repository is enough.
Even if you have some services that you must pass through to manipulate your entities. Grab the entity from the repository first and then pass it to said service. Being able to toss up a HTTP 404 before even trying is very convenient.
Also for read scenario's it's common you just need the entity to project it to a DTO/ViewModel. Having a service layer in between then often results in a lot of pass through methods which is rather ugly.