Model Declaration: false vs DS.attr('boolean', {defaultValue: false})

I am working with some older Ember.Data code, and I came across a model like this:

App.MyFancyModel = DS.Model.extend({
  isSelected: false,
  isSomethingElse: DS.attr('boolean', {defaultValue: false})
});

I thought this code was a bit strange, and then went and played with it a bit:

aFancyModel.get('isSelected'); //returns false
aFancyModel.set('isSelected', true); 
aFancyModel.get('isSelected'); //returns true
aFancyModel.get('isSomethingElse'); //returns false
aFancyModel.set('isSomethingElse', true); 
aFancyModel.get('isSomethingElse'); //returns true

I got identical behavior from the two properties. Then, I tried this:

aFancyModel.set('isSelected', true); 
aFancyModel.get('isDirty'); //RETURNS FALSE
aFancyModel.set('isSomethingElse', true); 
aFancyModel.get('isDirty'); //RETURNS TRUE!!!

So I guess my question is this: is this the expected behavior? I can’t find any documentation on setting boolean values directly on the model like this anywhere in the Ember.Data docs.

One’s just a plain boolean, the other one is actually a DS.attr(), so bindings will be setup correctly. That’s why the latter dirties the model.

Using a boolean instead of DS.attr(‘boolean’) in previous versions of ember.data dirtied the model. I’ve recently upgraded to ember.data 1.0.0-beta.8 and I’ve noticed this behavior change.

Trying to figure out if this is by design or a bug.

oh! Yeah, that makes sense. How old is the Ember Data you’re using? You may also want to look into the .find() changes if you’re coming from a really old version.

The 2nd version is better practice, though.

Design, of course.

Not to serialize attributes different from DS.attr() allows you to have local properties on your models that does not affect the communication with the server.

Say, a computed property calculated over a bunch of other attributes that make sense on the client side, but there is no need for the server to store or bother about.

Makes sense. Just wanted to verify the behavior. Thanks!