Value objects for domain modeling

14952
0

Value objects represent immutable domain concepts without identity. I use value objects for money, addresses, date ranges, coordinates. Value objects are compared by value, not identity—two identical addresses are equal. They're immutable—create new instances rather than modifying. Value objects encapsulate validation and behavior. Including Comparable enables sorting and comparison. Value objects reduce primitive obsession—Money instead of decimals, Address instead of strings. They make code expressive and type-safe. Testing value objects is straightforward—pure Ruby without dependencies. Understanding when to use value objects vs. entities improves domain modeling. Value objects are fundamental to Domain-Driven Design.