Service Object Patterns

Service objects encapsulate complex business logic by extracting it from models and controllers into dedicated classes. They handle multi-step operations, external service calls, and transactions in a single, reusable unit with standardized interfaces and explicit result handling for consistent success/failure signaling.

Implement a base ApplicationService class with domain-specific namespaces for different service categories. Each service follows a standardized interface, returns a result object indicating success or failure, and handles transactions for operations affecting multiple models.

Use service objects when business logic spans multiple models, requires external API calls, involves transactions, or contains multi-step workflows. They prevent models from becoming bloated and make complex operations testable and reusable across controllers and background jobs.

Service objects wrap multi-step operations in database transactions to ensure atomicity. If any step fails, the entire operation rolls back. The result object communicates success or failure, allowing callers to handle rollback consequences and retry logic consistently.

Yes. Service objects are ideal for orchestrating external service calls by centralizing API communication logic, implementing retry policies, and handling failures. The result object standardizes how API responses and errors are communicated back to controllers or other services.

Service objects integrate seamlessly with background jobs since they encapsulate reusable business logic independent of request context. Queue the service in a job, execute it asynchronously, and use the standardized result object to log outcomes or trigger downstream actions.