replacing the old HTML user guide with a Sphinx-managed user guide
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/overview/mvc.rst b/user_guide_src/source/overview/mvc.rst
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+#####################
+Model-View-Controller
+#####################
+
+CodeIgniter is based on the Model-View-Controller development pattern.
+MVC is a software approach that separates application logic from
+presentation. In practice, it permits your web pages to contain minimal
+scripting since the presentation is separate from the PHP scripting.
+
+- The **Model** represents your data structures. Typically your model
+ classes will contain functions that help you retrieve, insert, and
+ update information in your database.
+- The **View** is the information that is being presented to a user. A
+ View will normally be a web page, but in CodeIgniter, a view can also
+ be a page fragment like a header or footer. It can also be an RSS
+ page, or any other type of "page".
+- The **Controller** serves as an *intermediary* between the Model, the
+ View, and any other resources needed to process the HTTP request and
+ generate a web page.
+
+CodeIgniter has a fairly loose approach to MVC since Models are not
+required. If you don't need the added separation, or find that
+maintaining models requires more complexity than you want, you can
+ignore them and build your application minimally using Controllers and
+Views. CodeIgniter also enables you to incorporate your own existing
+scripts, or even develop core libraries for the system, enabling you to
+work in a way that makes the most sense to you.