title: DTO = ViewModel?
body: <p>I'm using NHibernate to persist my domain objects.
  To keep things simple I'm using an ASP.NET MVC project as both my presentation layer, and my service layer.</p>
  
  <p>I want to return my domain objects in XML from my controller classes. After reading some posts here on Stack Overflow I gather DTOs are the way to go. However, I've also come across posts talking about the ViewModel.</p>
  
  <p>My question: Are Data Transfer Objects and ViewModels the same thing? Or is a ViewModel a kind of sub pattern of a DTO?</p>