Understanding MVC, BLL-DAL-UI?

Question

Design patterns

Actually:
1) Model MVC. What is a model (Model), view (View), controller (Controller)? Is it a design pattern? What are the differences between active and passive MVC model? Where is the model implemented and applied?
2) Architectural approach of type (Database) <-> DAL <-> BL <-> UI. Is this approach a special case of MVC? How to spot the differences between DAL and BL?
3) Pictures, examples are welcome.
I want to: clearly understand and separate each of the components (Model, View, Controller, DAL, BL), its tasks, connections with other components; clearly distinguish where the pattern is, where the principle is; alternative approaches (?).

Answer 1

MVC does not have a standard, like any other pattern, it is, roughly speaking, only a theory (idea) and its meaning, as you said, is to divide the code into 3 parts. How they interact with each other is already a specific implementation, and there are several of them =)

Answer 2

2) MVC and (Database) <-> DAL <-> BL <-> UI are two special cases of N-tier architecture (there are others: MVVP in .NET, MTV in Django). The common goal of all variants of such an architecture is to reduce coupling.
The difference between DAL and BL is the difference between ORM and service layer, for example.