How to “properly” create a custom object in JavaScript?

Question

I wonder about what the best way is to create an JavaScript object that has properties and methods.

I have seen examples where the person used var self = this<

Answer 1

To continue off of bobince's answer

In es6 you can now actually create a class

So now you can do:

class Shape {
    constructor(x, y) {
        this.x = x;
        this.y = y;
    }

    toString() {
        return `Shape at ${this.x}, ${this.y}`;
    }
}

So extend to a circle (as in the other answer) you can do:

class Circle extends Shape {
    constructor(x, y, r) {
        super(x, y);
        this.r = r;
    }

    toString() {
        let shapeString = super.toString();
        return `Circular ${shapeString} with radius ${this.r}`;
    }
}

Ends up a bit cleaner in es6 and a little easier to read.

---

Here is a good example of it in action:

class Shape {
  constructor(x, y) {
    this.x = x;
    this.y = y;
  }

  toString() {
    return `Shape at ${this.x}, ${this.y}`;
  }
}

class Circle extends Shape {
  constructor(x, y, r) {
    super(x, y);
    this.r = r;
  }

  toString() {
    let shapeString = super.toString();
    return `Circular ${shapeString} with radius ${this.r}`;
  }
}

let c = new Circle(1, 2, 4);

console.log('' + c, c);

Answer 2

In addition to the accepted answer from 2009. If you can can target modern browsers, one can make use of the Object.defineProperty.

The Object.defineProperty() method defines a new property directly on an object, or modifies an existing property on an object, and returns the object. Source: Mozilla

var Foo = (function () {
    function Foo() {
        this._bar = false;
    }
    Object.defineProperty(Foo.prototype, "bar", {
        get: function () {
            return this._bar;
        },
        set: function (theBar) {
            this._bar = theBar;
        },
        enumerable: true,
        configurable: true
    });
    Foo.prototype.toTest = function () {
        alert("my value is " + this.bar);
    };
    return Foo;
}());

// test instance
var test = new Foo();
test.bar = true;
test.toTest();

To see a desktop and mobile compatibility list, see Mozilla's Browser Compatibility list. Yes, IE9+ supports it as well as Safari mobile.

Answer 3

Bascially there is no concept of class in JS so we use function as a class constructor which is relevant with the existing design patterns.

//Constructor Pattern
function Person(name, age, job){
 this.name = name;
 this.age = age;
 this.job = job;
 this.doSomething = function(){
    alert('I am Happy');
}
}

Till now JS has no clue that you want to create an object so here comes the new keyword.

var person1 = new Person('Arv', 30, 'Software');
person1.name //Arv

Ref : Professional JS for web developers - Nik Z

Answer 4

I'd like to mention that we can use either a Title or a String to declare an Object.
There are different ways on calling each type of them. See below:

var test = {

  useTitle : "Here we use 'a Title' to declare an Object",
  'useString': "Here we use 'a String' to declare an Object",
  
  onTitle : function() {
    return this.useTitle;
  },
  
  onString : function(type) {
    return this[type];
  }
  
}

console.log(test.onTitle());
console.log(test.onString('useString'));

Answer 5

Another way would be http://jsfiddle.net/nnUY4/ (i dont know if this kind of handling object creation and revealing functions follow any specific pattern)

// Build-Reveal

var person={
create:function(_name){ // 'constructor'
                        //  prevents direct instantiation 
                        //  but no inheritance
    return (function() {

        var name=_name||"defaultname";  // private variable

        // [some private functions]

        function getName(){
            return name;
        }

        function setName(_name){
            name=_name;
        }

        return {    // revealed functions
            getName:getName,    
            setName:setName
        }
    })();
   }
  }

  // … no (instantiated) person so far …

  var p=person.create(); // name will be set to 'defaultname'
  p.setName("adam");        // and overwritten
  var p2=person.create("eva"); // or provide 'constructor parameters'
  alert(p.getName()+":"+p2.getName()); // alerts "adam:eva"

Answer 6

Closure is versatile. bobince has well summarized the prototype vs. closure approaches when creating objects. However you can mimic some aspects of OOP using closure in a functional programming way. Remember functions are objects in JavaScript; so use function as object in a different way.

Here is an example of closure:

function outer(outerArg) {
    return inner(innerArg) {
        return innerArg + outerArg; //the scope chain is composed of innerArg and outerArg from the outer context 
    }
}

A while ago I came across the Mozilla's article on Closure. Here is what jump at my eyes: "A closure lets you associate some data (the environment) with a function that operates on that data. This has obvious parallels to object oriented programming, where objects allow us to associate some data (the object's properties) with one or more methods". It was the very first time I read a parallelism between closure and classic OOP with no reference to prototype.

How?

Suppose you want to calculate the VAT of some items. The VAT is likely to stay stable during the lifetime of an application. One way to do it in OOP (pseudo code):

public class Calculator {
    public property VAT { get; private set; }
    public Calculator(int vat) {
        this.VAT = vat;
    }
    public int Calculate(int price) {
        return price * this.VAT;
    }
}

Basically you pass a VAT value into your constructor and your calculate method can operate upon it via closure. Now instead of using a class/constructor, pass your VAT as an argument into a function. Because the only stuff you are interested in is the calculation itself, returns a new function, which is the calculate method:

function calculator(vat) {
    return function(item) {
        return item * vat;
    }
}
var calculate = calculator(1.10);
var jsBook = 100; //100$
calculate(jsBook); //110

In your project identify top-level values that are good candidate of what VAT is for calculation. As a rule of thumb whenever you pass the same arguments on and on, there is a way to improve it using closure. No need to create traditional objects.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Closures