JavaScript private methods

Question

To make a JavaScript class with a public method I\'d do something like:

function Restaurant() {}

Restaurant.prototype.buy_food = function(){
   // something         


        

Answer 1

In these situations when you have a public API, and you would like private and public methods/properties, I always use the Module Pattern. This pattern was made popular within the YUI library, and the details can be found here:

http://yuiblog.com/blog/2007/06/12/module-pattern/

It is really straightforward, and easy for other developers to comprehend. For a simple example:

var MYLIB = function() {  
    var aPrivateProperty = true;
    var aPrivateMethod = function() {
        // some code here...
    };
    return {
        aPublicMethod : function() {
            aPrivateMethod(); // okay
            // some code here...
        },
        aPublicProperty : true
    };  
}();

MYLIB.aPrivateMethod() // not okay
MYLIB.aPublicMethod() // okay