Does Javascript have get/set keywords like C#? - javascript

I'm working with XULRunner and came across the following pattern in a code sample:
var StrangeSample = {
backingStore : "",
get foo() { return this.backingStore + " "; },
set foo(val) { this.backingStore = val; },
func: function(someParam) { return this.foo + someParam; }
};
StrangeSample.foo = "rabbit";
alert(StrangeSample.func("bear"));
This results in "rabbit bear" being alerted.
I've never seen this get/set pattern used in Javascript before. It works, but I can't find any documentation/reference for it. Is this something peculiar to XUL, a recent language feature, or just something I missed? I'm puzzled because I was specifically looking for something like this a few months ago and couldn't find anything.
For reference, removing "get" or "set" results in a syntax error. Renaming them to anything else is a syntax error. They really do seem to be keywords.
Can anyone shed some light on this for me, or point me towards a reference?

As suggested by Martinho, here are some links explaining the getter/setters in JS 1.5:
http://ejohn.org/blog/javascript-getters-and-setters/
http://ajaxian.com/archives/getters-and-setters-in-javascript
Be aware though, they don't seem to be supported in IE, and some developers have (legitimate) concerns about the idea of variable assignment having side-effects.
get/set are not reserved keywords as Daniel points out. I had no problem creating a top-level functions called "get" and "set" and using the alongside the code-sample posted above. So I assume that the parser is smart enough to allow this. In fact, even the following seems to be legitimate (if confusing):
var Sample = {
bs : "",
get get() { return this.bs; },
set get(val) { this.bs = val; }
}

According to Mozilla, they are not in ECMAScript.

JavaScript Setters And Getters:
Usually the setter and getter methods follow the following syntax in JavaScript objects. An object is created with multiple properties. The setter method has one argument, while the getter method has no arguments. Both are functions.
For a given property that is already created within the object, the set method is typically an if/else statement that validates the input for any time that property is directly accessed and assigned later on via code, a.k.a. "set". This is often done by using an if (typeof [arg] === 'certain type of value, such as: number, string, or boolean') statement, then the code block usually assigns the this.(specific)property-name to the argument. (Occasionally with a message logging to the console.) But it doesn't need to return anything; it simply is setting the this.specific-property to evaluate to the argument. The else statement, however, almost always has a (error) message log to the console that prompts the user to enter a different value for the property's key-value that meets the if condition.
The getter method is the opposite, basically. It sets up a function, without any arguments, to "get", i.e. return a(nother) value/property when you call the specific-property that you just set. It "gets" you something different than what you would normally get in response to calling that object property.
The value of setters and getters can be easily seen for property key-values that you don't want to be able to be directly modified, unless certain conditions are met. For properties of this type, use the underscore to proceed the property name, and use a getter to allow you to be able to call the property without the underscore. Then use a setter to define the conditions by which the property's key-value can be accessed and assigned, a.k.a. "set". For example, I will include two basic setters and getters for this object's properties. Note: I use a constant variable because objects remain mutable (after creation).
const person = {
_name: 'Sean';
_age: 27;
set age(ageIn) {
if (typeof ageIn === 'number') {
this._age = ageIn;
}
else {
console.log(`${ageIn} is invalid for the age's key-value. Change ${ageIn} to/into a Number.`);
return 'Invalid Input.';
}
},
get age() {
return this._age;
},
set name(nameIn) {
if (typeof nameIn === 'string') {
this._name = nameIn;
} else {
console.log(`Change ${nameIn} to/into a(ny) String for the name's
key-value.`);
return 'Invalid Input.';
}
},
get name() {
return this._name;
}
};
Where it gets interesting is when you try to set/assign a new key-value for the _age property, because it has to meet the if conditional in order to be successfully assigned, meaning not all assignments are valid, etc.
person.age = 'twenty-eight'; /* output: twenty-eight is invalid for the
age's key-value. Change twenty-eight to/into a Number. */
console.log(person.age); // output: 27 (twenty-eight was never assigned)
person.age = 28; // output: none
console.log(person.age); // output: 28
Note how I was able to access the person._age property via the person.age property thanks to the getter method. Also, similar to how input for age was restricted to numbers, input for the name property is now restricted/set to strings only.
Hope this helps clear things up!
Additionally, some links for more:
https://johnresig.com/blog/javascript-getters-and-setters/
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Functions/get
https://www.infragistics.com/community/blogs/infragistics/archive/2017/09/19/easy-javascript-part-8-what-are-getters-and-setters.aspx

Related

Benefit of using 'set' in a property of a object?

I'm working on a Codecademy course and have written the following code that works:
let person = {
_name: 'Lu Xun',
_age: 137,
set age (newAge) {
if (typeof newAge === 'number'){
this._age= newAge;
} else {
console.log('Invalid input');
}
}
}
person.age= 22;
console.log(person['_age']);
I was getting my head around how the set works and thought that it essentially worked the same as defining a method within the person object just with different syntax.
So I tried it out, called the age method passing 22 to it from outside the object using the normal way you would call a method. It worked the same. See below.
let person = {
_name: 'Lu Xun',
_age: 137,
age: function (newAge) {
if (typeof newAge === 'number'){
this._age= newAge;
} else {
console.log('Invalid input');
}
}
}
person.age(22);
console.log(person['_age']);
What are the benefits of using the 'set' syntax? ie why use it when a normal function/method definition works in the same way?
Imagine you wrote a very huge code and a lot of them access a variable like this:
// The object
const person = { age: 12 }
// You access it very often
console.log(person.age);
Now you certainly want to calculate the age based on the birthdate. With a method, you would have to replace person.age with person.getAge() everywere you use it. That can take time. With getters / setters you can just replace one single line and everything keeps working.
If you don't think that this is a problem, you might wanna look at this java thread. Java doesnt have getters / setters.
The get/set syntax is for a property whereas using a method is just that, a method. Most of the time a simple public variable will suffice however there are times, like in your example that you want to validate the input to ensure that it meets whatever expectations you have of the value.
Also consider how your code will be called and what that will look like. If you were to use a function to change the value and a function to get the value your code will look something like this:
var myObject = new CoolObject('some parameter');
myObject.setComment('this is a super cool comment');
console.log(myObject.getComment());
Where as if you implemented the get/set functions on your property it will look like this
var myObject = new CoolObject('some parameter');
myObject.comment = 'This is a super cool comment';
console.log(myObject.comment);
At the end of the day it really doesn't matter as both code snippets will do the exact same thing however one reads easier and wont get you yelled at by your co-workers. Keep in mind the second example doesn't change if you simply expose a public variable.

Function parameter: Get name of undefined variable

If one of my functions get an undefined parameter passed, I want to get the name of the variable outside the function so I can better troubleshoot the undefined variables. I.e.:
var myVar = document.getElementById("myTable").dataset.tablename;
//myVar: undefined
testVar(myVar);
testVar(param1) {
if (!param1) console.log(passed parameter ??? undefined);
}
//??? shall be "myVar"
I don't think the thing you want to achieve is possible. You can look at the stack trace at debug time, but I will give you further information and ideas here:
You could have a development policy in your team to name outside variables the same way as the parameters are at functions whenever possible. If you do so, this post will become useful.
You might introduce a policy to pass objects to functions, like {name: 'John', age: 3} and then you will know the keys.
You could create a Trackable prototype which would have a key and a value, like this:
function Trackable(name, value) {
this.name = name;
this.value = value;
}
and pass trackables to functions when their names will be needed, thus you will call testVar(new Trackable('myVar', myVar)) and inside you will check param1.value against undefined and if it is undefined, then use the name in your report.

Confused about Javascript. A boolean function can act as a void function?

I'm trying to refresh some Javascript knowledge for an upcoming interview. I was reading a blog that says
"The delete operator returns true if the delete was successful."
and then shows an example of it in use:
var christmasList = {mike:"Book", jason:"sweater" }
​delete christmasList.mike; // deletes the mike property​
In that example it looks like delete is used in the manner that a void function (in the general programming sense -- I know that JS doesn't require declarations like void) would be.
Can someone explain to me, or give me a link to, the documentation that explains how JS functions can act with different return values, and does such require separate implementations for each return value?
You can check the Delete operator which says:
If desc.[[Configurable]] is true, then
Remove the own property with name P from O.
Return true.
Note that delete only works for properties of objects. Also a good read:- JavaScript Delete() Only Affects The Referenced Object Regardless Of Prototype Chain
In that example it looks like delete is used in the manner that a void function
The delete operator is not a function, it is an operator. It deals with properties of objects, not their values.
Functions are something else, but since you asked:
Can someone explain to me how JS functions can act with different return values
JavaScript is loosely typed. Functions don't care about the types of values unless they need to, and (most of the time) conversion between types is handled by operators.
If a function needs to are about what it is operating on, then it has to examine the value to see what it is.
For example:
function myFunction(myArgument) {
if (typeof myArgument === "function") {
return myArgument();
} else {
return myArgument;
}
}
A function can return any value it likes.
function string_or_number() {
if (Math.random() > 0.5) {
return 1;
} else {
return "1";
}
}
Strongly typed languages care about what type of value a function returns and what type of value is passed into an argument.
Loosely typed ones simply don't. There's nothing special about it from the point of view of someone using the language.
It shunts most of the complexity about having to care about types to the compiler author instead of the user of the compiler (who just has to care that, if a function is designed to do something to a duck, what they pass is sufficiently like a duck to not break the function).
As others note, delete is technically an operator and not a function; for our immediate concerns, however, the difference is academic, as the operator's behavior is the same as that of many functions used for their side effects (which is to say, void functions). Both the rule of the language and the conventions of their use are simple.
Rule
All functions provide a return value; if no return statement is reached, this will be undefined
Conventions
Since we always get a return value, we can take advantage of it to improve our programs. There are two conventions; which one should be used depends on the use case.
Return a boolean, signalling success or failure
Return some object being operated on
Option 2 is most useful for methods on objects: if our method changes the state of the object and then returns the object, we can bundle several changes into a single line of method calls: object.change1().change2().change3(newVal);
Option 1 is most useful when we want to use the success or failure of an operation to determine program flow; maybe we want to throw an exception if the property was not deleted but continue normally if it was. Then we can use if (delete object.property) to attempt to delete the property and branch into success/failure cases immediately.
From the MDN on the delete operator:
Throws in strict mode if the property is an own non-configurable property (returns false in non-strict). Returns true in all other cases.
I can't make it simpler than that. Aside from a small example:
alert(delete window.window)
alert(delete window.foobar)
alert(delete window.alert)
Javascript functions always return ambigious values. One function can return boolean, string, object, array or HTMLElement.
There is no fixed type.
function masterSwitch(input) {
switch(input) {
case 0 : return "Hello";
case 1 : return 0xdead;
case 2 : return 0.00042;
case 3 : return document.createElement("DIV");
case 4 : return true;
case 5 : return window;
case 6 : return this;
case 7 : return null;
default:window.alert("Please specify input from 0 to 8");
}
}
<input type="text" id="output"> <SELECT onchange="document.getElementById('output').value = typeof masterSwitch(this.selectedIndex);">
<option>string</option>
<option>int</option>
<option>float</option>
<option>HTMLElement</option>
<option>boolean</option>
<option>window</option>
<option>this</option>
<option>null</option>
</select>

Generating generic getters and setter on javascript object

It is possible to create getters and setters in javascript as shown by
Object.defineProperty
__define***__
In all those instances, the name of the property is known.
Is it possible create a generic one.
By this I mean, I have a getter and or setter and it is called irrespective of the property name.
Is this possible?
If so, how?
regards.
Note:
I did find these after posting the question. Looks like it is currently not possible as the first answer stated.
Is it possible to implement dynamic getters/setters in JavaScript?
Monitor All JavaScript Object Properties (magic getters and setters)
To all time travelers like me:
It was not possible at the time the question was asked, but it is already possible in present versions of EcmaScript via so-called proxy objects. See more here:
Is it possible to implement dynamic getters/setters in JavaScript?
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Proxy
There is a non standard function __noSuchMethod__() which is executed when a non existing property is invoked as a function.
But I don't think there is exactly what you are looking for in JavaScript (yet).
Not possible in standard javascript at this point.
I suppose you are expected to handle this yourself:
if (!object.hasOwnProperty('foo')) {
// object has a foo property, its value might be undefined
} else if (typeof object.foo != 'undefined') {
// there is a foo property elsewhere on object's prototye chain with
// a value other than undefined
} else {
// the foo property might exist on the prototype chain with
// a value of undefined, or might not exist on the chain at all
}
I feel like you guys were looking for something like this
function getterSetter()
{
var valA;
this.set=function (propName,val)
{
if(typeof this[propName] =='function' )
{
return false;
}
this[propName]=val;
}
this.get=function (propName,val)
{
if(typeof this[propName] =='function' )
{
return false;
}
return this[propName];
}
}
Here the set and get methods are setter and getter. You can verify this with following code.
var testObj=new getterSetter();
testObj.set('valA',10);
alert(testObj.get('valA'));
Also, checking for the propName to set/get is not a function.

JavaScript object detection: dot syntax versus 'in' keyword

I have seen two ways of detecting whether a UA implements a specific JS property: if(object.property) and if('property' in object).
I would like to hear opinions on which is better, and most importantly, why. Is one unequivocally better than the other? Are there more than just these two ways to do object property detection? Please cover browser support, pitfalls, execution speed, and such like, rather than aesthetics.
Edit: Readers are encouraged to run the tests at jsperf.com/object-detection
if(object.property)
will fail in cases it is not set (which is what you want), and in cases it has been set to some falsey value, e.g. undefined, null, 0 etc (which is not what you want).
var object = {property: 0};
if(object.isNotSet) { ... } // will not run
if(object.property) { ... } // will not run
if('property' in object)
is slightly better, since it will actually return whether the object really has the property, not just by looking at its value.
var object = {property: 0};
if('property' in object) { ... } // will run
if('toString' in object) { ... } // will also run; from prototype
if(object.hasOwnProperty('property'))
is even better, since it will allow you to distinguish between instance properties and prototype properties.
var object = {property: 0};
if(object.hasOwnProperty('property')) { ... } // will run
if(object.hasOwnProperty('toString')) { ... } // will not run
I would say performance is not that big of an issue here, unless you're checking thousands of time a second but in that case you should consider another code structure. All of these functions/syntaxes are supported by recent browsers, hasOwnProperty has been around for a long time, too.
Edit: You can also make a general function to check for existence of a property by passing anything (even things that are not objects) as an object like this:
function has(obj, prop) {
return Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(obj, prop);
}
Now this works:
has(window, 'setTimeout'); // true
even if window.hasOwnProperty === undefined (which is the case in IE version 8 or lower).
It really depends what you want to achieve. Are you talking about host objects (such as window and DOM nodes)? If so, the safest check is typeof, which works for all host objects I know of:
if (typeof object.property != "undefined") { ... }
Notes:
Avoid object.hasOwnProperty() for host objects, because host objects are not obliged to inherit from Object.prototype and therefore may not have a hasOwnProperty() method (and indeed in IE < 9, they generally do not).
A simple Boolean coercion (e.g. if (object.property) { ... }) is a poor test of the existence of a property, since it will give false negatives for falsy values. For example, for an empty textarea, if (textarea.selectionStart) { ... } will not execute the block even though the property exists. Also, some host object properties throw an error in older versions of IE when attempting to coerce to a Boolean (e.g. var xhr = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); if (xhr.responseXML) { ... }).
The in operator is a better test of the existence of a property, but there are once again no guarantees about support for it in host objects.
I recommend against considering performance for this kind of task. Choose the safest option for your project and only optimize later. There will almost certainly be much better candidates for optimization than property existence checks.
For more background on this, I recommend this excellent article by Peter Michaux.
Definitely if ('property' in object) is the right way to go. That actually tests if the property is in the object (or in its prototype chain, more on that below).
if (object.property) on the other hand, will coerce 'property' into a truth/flase value. If the property is unset, it will return "undefined", which will be coerced into false, and appear to work. But this will also fail for a number of other set values of properties. javascript is notoriously inconsistent in what it treats as truthy and falsy.
Finally, like I said above, 'property' in 'object' will return true if it's in anywhere in the prototype chain. If you want to test that's on the object itself, and not somewhere higher up in the chain, you use the hasOwnProperty method like so:
if (object.hasOwnProperty('property')) ...
The first one would fail if "property" is false of 0. To make sure that there actually exist a property you need to check that object.property !== undefined, or use the in-keyword.
[Edit]
There is also the hasOwnProperty-function, but I've never really used that one so I can't say much about it. Though I think it won't return true if the property is set in a prototype, which sometimes you want, other times you don't want.
This allows you to use window.hasOwnProperty as either referring to itself or something else, regardless of your scripting host.
// No enclosing functions here
if (!('hasOwnProperty' in this))
function hasOwnProperty(obj, prop) {
var method = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty;
if (prop === undefined)
return method.call(this, obj);
return method.call(obj, prop);
}
//Example of use
var global = global || this; //environment-agnostic way to get the global object
var x = 'blah';
WScript.Echo(global.hasOwnProperty('x') ? 'true' : 'false'); //true
//Use as non-object method
var y = { z: false };
WScript.Echo(hasOwnProperty(y, 'z') ? 'true' : 'false'); //true
WScript.Echo(hasOwnProperty(y, 'w') ? 'true' : 'false'); //false
// true ಠ_ಠ
WScript.Echo(hasOwnProperty(global, 'hasOwnProperty') ? 'true' : 'false');

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