Javascript – What would be a better name for Javascript’s “this”

javascriptsyntaxthis

I'm coming from a Java background, with its class-based inheritance model, trying to get my head around Javascript's prototype-based inheritance model. Part of what is throwing me off, I think is that I have Java's meaning of "this" solidly in mind – and Javascript's "this" is a very different beast. I understand that Javascript's "this" always refers to the function's caller, not the scope in which the function was defined – I mean, I have read that and understand superficially what it means. But I would like to have the understanding more deeply, and I think having another name for it would help. How do you think about JS "this"? Do you make a mental replacement every time you run across it? If so – what word or phrase do you use?

Best Solution

this might be reasonably renamed to context in Javascript.

It's really referring to an execution context for the current scope, and while that context can be an instance of a class, it certainly doesn't have to be — it can be any object at all, and it can be modified at run-time.

Proof that there is no guarantee whatsoever that a "method" in Javascript is operating on an instance of the "class" in which it is defined:

function Cat(){

     this.texture = 'fluffy';

     this.greet = function(){
         alert("Pet me, I'm " + this.texture);
     }
 }

 var cat = new Cat();

 // Default to using the cat instance as the this pointer
 cat.greet(); // Alerts "Pet me, I'm fluffy"

 // Manually set the value of the this pointer!
 cat.greet.call({texture: 'scaly'});  // Alerts "Pet me, I'm scaly"

It's important to note there that the value of the this object is completely independent of where the containing function is defined.

Related Solutions

Python – What does ** (double star/asterisk) and * (star/asterisk) do for parameters

The *args and **kwargs is a common idiom to allow arbitrary number of arguments to functions as described in the section more on defining functions in the Python documentation.

The *args will give you all function parameters as a tuple:

def foo(*args):
    for a in args:
        print(a)        

foo(1)
# 1

foo(1,2,3)
# 1
# 2
# 3

The **kwargs will give you all keyword arguments except for those corresponding to a formal parameter as a dictionary.

def bar(**kwargs):
    for a in kwargs:
        print(a, kwargs[a])  

bar(name='one', age=27)
# name one
# age 27

Both idioms can be mixed with normal arguments to allow a set of fixed and some variable arguments:

def foo(kind, *args, **kwargs):
   pass

It is also possible to use this the other way around:

def foo(a, b, c):
    print(a, b, c)

obj = {'b':10, 'c':'lee'}

foo(100,**obj)
# 100 10 lee

Another usage of the *l idiom is to unpack argument lists when calling a function.

def foo(bar, lee):
    print(bar, lee)

l = [1,2]

foo(*l)
# 1 2

In Python 3 it is possible to use *l on the left side of an assignment (Extended Iterable Unpacking), though it gives a list instead of a tuple in this context:

first, *rest = [1,2,3,4]
first, *l, last = [1,2,3,4]

Also Python 3 adds new semantic (refer PEP 3102):

def func(arg1, arg2, arg3, *, kwarg1, kwarg2):
    pass

Such function accepts only 3 positional arguments, and everything after * can only be passed as keyword arguments.

Note:

A Python dict, semantically used for keyword argument passing, are arbitrarily ordered. However, in Python 3.6, keyword arguments are guaranteed to remember insertion order.
"The order of elements in **kwargs now corresponds to the order in which keyword arguments were passed to the function." - What’s New In Python 3.6
In fact, all dicts in CPython 3.6 will remember insertion order as an implementation detail, this becomes standard in Python 3.7.

Javascript – How to guarantee that the enums definition doesn’t change in JavaScript

Since 1.8.5 it's possible to seal and freeze the object, so define the above as:

const DaysEnum = Object.freeze({"monday":1, "tuesday":2, "wednesday":3, ...})

const DaysEnum = {"monday":1, "tuesday":2, "wednesday":3, ...}
Object.freeze(DaysEnum)

and voila! JS enums.

However, this doesn't prevent you from assigning an undesired value to a variable, which is often the main goal of enums:

let day = DaysEnum.tuesday
day = 298832342 // goes through without any errors

One way to ensure a stronger degree of type safety (with enums or otherwise) is to use a tool like TypeScript or Flow.

Quotes aren't needed but I kept them for consistency.

Best Solution

Related Solutions

Python – What does ** (double star/asterisk) and * (star/asterisk) do for parameters

Note:

Javascript – How to guarantee that the enums definition doesn’t change in JavaScript

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