what is the difference between 3 tier architecture and a mvc ?
Are they same?
Both have 3 layers i.e model, views and controller
At first glance, the three tiers may seem similar to the model-view-controller (MVC) concept; however, topologically they are different. A fundamental rule in a three tier architecture is the client tier never communicates directly with the data tier; in a three-tier model all communication must pass through the middle tier. Conceptually the three-tier architecture is linear. However, the [model-view-controller] MVC architecture is triangular: the view sends updates to the controller, the controller updates the model, and the view gets updated directly from the model.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multitier_architecture#Three-tier_architecture