JavaScript Garden is a growing collection of documentation about the most
quirky parts of the JavaScript programming language. It gives advice to
avoid common mistakes and subtle bugs, as well as performance issues and bad
practices, that non-expert JavaScript programmers may encounter on their
endeavours into the depths of the language.
JavaScript Garden does not aim to teach you JavaScript. Former knowledge
of the language is strongly recommended in order to understand the topics covered
in this guide. In order to learn the basics of the language, please head over to
the excellent guide on the Mozilla Developer Network.
JavaScript Garden is published under the MIT license and hosted on
GitHub. If you find errors or typos please file an issue or a pull
request on the repository. You can also find us in the JavaScript room on
Stack Overflow chat.
Objects
Object Usage and Properties
Everything in JavaScript acts like an object, with the only two exceptions being
null and undefined.
A common misconception is that number literals cannot be used as
objects. That is because a flaw in JavaScript's parser tries to parse the dot
notation on a number as a floating point literal.
2.toString(); // raises SyntaxError
There are a couple of workarounds that can be used to make number literals act
as objects too.
2..toString(); // the second point is correctly recognized
2 .toString(); // note the space left of the dot
(2).toString(); // 2 is evaluated first
Objects as a Data Type
Objects in JavaScript can also be used as Hashmaps; they mainly consist
of named properties mapping to values.
Using an object literal - {} notation - it is possible to create a
plain object. This new object inherits from Object.prototype and
does not have own properties defined.
var foo = {}; // a new empty object
// a new object with a 'test' property with value 12
var bar = {test: 12};
Accessing Properties
The properties of an object can be accessed in two ways, via either the dot
notation or the square bracket notation.
var foo = {name: 'kitten'}
foo.name; // kitten
foo['name']; // kitten
var get = 'name';
foo[get]; // kitten
foo.1234; // SyntaxError
foo['1234']; // works
The notations work almost identically, with the only difference being that the
square bracket notation allows for dynamic setting of properties and
the use of property names that would otherwise lead to a syntax error.
Deleting Properties
The only way to remove a property from an object is to use the delete
operator; setting the property to undefined or null only removes the
value associated with the property, but not the key.
var obj = {
bar: 1,
foo: 2,
baz: 3
};
obj.bar = undefined;
obj.foo = null;
delete obj.baz;
for(var i in obj) {
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(i)) {
console.log(i, '' + obj[i]);
}
}
The above outputs both bar undefined and foo null - only baz was
removed and is therefore missing from the output.
Notation of Keys
var test = {
'case': 'I am a keyword, so I must be notated as a string',
delete: 'I am a keyword, so me too' // raises SyntaxError
};
Object properties can be both notated as plain characters and as strings. Due to
another mis-design in JavaScript's parser, the above will throw
a SyntaxError prior to ECMAScript 5.
This error arises from the fact that delete is a keyword; therefore, it must be
notated as a string literal to ensure that it will be correctly interpreted by
older JavaScript engines.
The Prototype
JavaScript does not feature a classical inheritance model; instead, it uses a
prototypal one.
While this is often considered to be one of JavaScript's weaknesses, the
prototypal inheritance model is in fact more powerful than the classic model.
It is, for example, fairly trivial to build a classic model on top of a
prototypal model, while the other way around is a far more difficult task.
JavaScript is the only widely used language that features prototypal
inheritance, so it can take time to adjust to the differences between the two
models.
The first major difference is that inheritance in JavaScript uses prototype
chains.
function Foo() {
this.value = 42;
}
Foo.prototype = {
method: function() {}
};
function Bar() {}
// Set Bar's prototype to a new instance of Foo
Bar.prototype = new Foo();
Bar.prototype.foo = 'Hello World';
// Make sure to list Bar as the actual constructor
Bar.prototype.constructor = Bar;
var test = new Bar(); // create a new bar instance
// The resulting prototype chain
test [instance of Bar]
Bar.prototype [instance of Foo]
{ foo: 'Hello World', value: 42 }
Foo.prototype
{ method: ... }
Object.prototype
{ toString: ... /* etc. */ }
In the code above, the object test will inherit from both Bar.prototype and
Foo.prototype; hence, it will have access to the function method that was
defined on Foo. It will also have access to the property value of the
oneFoo instance that is its prototype. It is important to note that new
Bar() does not create a new Foo instance, but reuses the one assigned to
its prototype; thus, all Bar instances will share the samevalue property.
Property Lookup
When accessing the properties of an object, JavaScript will traverse the
prototype chain upwards until it finds a property with the requested name.
If it reaches the top of the chain - namely Object.prototype - and still
hasn't found the specified property, it will return the value
undefined instead.
The Prototype Property
While the prototype property is used by the language to build the prototype
chains, it is still possible to assign any given value to it. However,
primitives will simply get ignored when assigned as a prototype.
function Foo() {}
Foo.prototype = 1; // no effect
Assigning objects, as shown in the example above, will work, and allows for dynamic
creation of prototype chains.
Performance
The lookup time for properties that are high up on the prototype chain can have
a negative impact on performance, and this may be significant in code where
performance is critical. Additionally, trying to access non-existent properties
will always traverse the full prototype chain.
Also, when iterating over the properties of an object
every property that is on the prototype chain will be enumerated.
Extension of Native Prototypes
One mis-feature that is often used is to extend Object.prototype or one of the
other built in prototypes.
This technique is called monkey patching and breaks encapsulation. While
used by popular frameworks such as Prototype, there is still no good
reason for cluttering built-in types with additional non-standard functionality.
The only good reason for extending a built-in prototype is to backport
the features of newer JavaScript engines; for example,
Array.forEach.
In Conclusion
It is essential to understand the prototypal inheritance model before
writing complex code that makes use of it. Also, be aware of the length of the
prototype chains in your code and break them up if necessary to avoid possible
performance problems. Further, the native prototypes should never be
extended unless it is for the sake of compatibility with newer JavaScript
features.
hasOwnProperty
To check whether an object has a property defined on itself and not somewhere
on its prototype chain, it is necessary to use the
hasOwnProperty method which all objects inherit from Object.prototype.
hasOwnProperty is the only thing in JavaScript which deals with properties and
does not traverse the prototype chain.
Only hasOwnProperty will give the correct and expected result. See the section
on for in loops for more details on when to use
hasOwnProperty when iterating over object
properties.
hasOwnProperty as a Property
JavaScript does not protect the property name hasOwnProperty; thus, if the
possibility exists that an object might have a property with this name, it is
necessary to use an externalhasOwnProperty to get correct results.
var foo = {
hasOwnProperty: function() {
return false;
},
bar: 'Here be dragons'
};
foo.hasOwnProperty('bar'); // always returns false
// Use another Object's hasOwnProperty and call it with 'this' set to foo
({}).hasOwnProperty.call(foo, 'bar'); // true
// It's also possible to use hasOwnProperty from the Object
// prototype for this purpose
Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(foo, 'bar'); // true
In Conclusion
Using hasOwnProperty is the only reliable method to check for the
existence of a property on an object. It is recommended that hasOwnProperty
be used in many cases when iterating over object properties as described
in the section on for in loops.
The for in Loop
Just like the in operator, the for in loop traverses the prototype
chain when iterating over the properties of an object.
// Poisoning Object.prototype
Object.prototype.bar = 1;
var foo = {moo: 2};
for(var i in foo) {
console.log(i); // prints both bar and moo
}
Since it is not possible to change the behavior of the for in loop itself, it
is necessary to filter out the unwanted properties inside the loop body. In
ECMAScript 3 and older, this is done using the hasOwnProperty
method of Object.prototype.
Since ECMAScript 5, Object.defineProperty can be used with
enumerable set to false to add properties to objects (including Object)
without these properties being enumerated. In this case it is reasonable
to assume in application code that any enumerable properties have been added
for a reason and to omit hasOwnProperty, since it makes code more verbose and less
readable. In library code hasOwnProperty should still be used since
assumptions cannot be made about which enumerable properties might reside
on the prototype chain.
Using hasOwnProperty for Filtering
// still the foo from above
for(var i in foo) {
if (foo.hasOwnProperty(i)) {
console.log(i);
}
}
This version is the only correct one to use with older versions of ECMAScript.
Due to the use of hasOwnProperty, it will only print out moo.
When hasOwnProperty is left out, the code is prone to errors in cases where
the native prototypes - e.g. Object.prototype -
have been extended.
In newer versions of ECMAScript, non-enumerable properties can be defined with
Object.defineProperty, reducing the risk of iterating over properties without
using hasOwnProperty. Nonetheless, care must be taken when using older
libraries like Prototype, which does not yet take advantage of new ECMAScript features.
When this framework is included, for in loops that do not use
hasOwnProperty are guaranteed to break.
In Conclusion
It is recommended to always use hasOwnProperty in ECMAScript 3 or lower, as well as
in library code. Assumptions should never be made in these environments about whether
the native prototypes have been extended or not. Since ECMAScript 5, Object.defineProperty
makes it possible to define non-enumerable properties and to omit hasOwnProperty in
application code.
Functions
Function Declarations and Expressions
Functions in JavaScript are first class objects. That means they can be
passed around like any other value. One common use of this feature is to pass
an anonymous function as a callback to another, possibly an asynchronous function.
The function Declaration
function foo() {}
The above function gets hoisted before the execution of the
program starts; thus, it is available everywhere in the scope it was
defined, even if called before the actual definition in the source.
foo(); // Works because foo was created before this code runs
function foo() {}
The function Expression
var foo = function() {};
This example assigns the unnamed and anonymous function to the variable foo.
foo; // 'undefined'
foo(); // this raises a TypeError
var foo = function() {};
Due to the fact that var is a declaration that hoists the variable name foo
before the actual execution of the code starts, foo is already declared when
the script gets executed.
But since assignments only happen at runtime, the value of foo will default
to undefined before the corresponding code is executed.
Named Function Expression
Another special case is the assignment of named functions.
var foo = function bar() {
bar(); // Works
}
bar(); // ReferenceError
Here, bar is not available in the outer scope, since the function only gets
assigned to foo; however, inside of bar, it is available. This is due to
how name resolution in JavaScript works, the name of the
function is always made available in the local scope of the function itself.
How this Works
JavaScript has a different concept of what the special name this refers to
than most other programming languages. There are exactly five different
ways in which the value of this can be bound in the language.
The Global Scope
this;
When using this in global scope, it will simply refer to the global object.
Calling a Function
foo();
Here, this will again refer to the global object.
Calling a Method
test.foo();
In this example, this will refer to test.
Calling a Constructor
new foo();
A function call that is preceded by the new keyword acts as
a constructor. Inside the function, this will refer
to a newly createdObject.
Explicit Setting of this
function foo(a, b, c) {}
var bar = {};
foo.apply(bar, [1, 2, 3]); // array will expand to the below
foo.call(bar, 1, 2, 3); // results in a = 1, b = 2, c = 3
When using the call or apply methods of Function.prototype, the value of
this inside the called function gets explicitly set to the first argument
of the corresponding function call.
As a result, in the above example the method case does not apply, and this
inside of foo will be set to bar.
Common Pitfalls
While most of these cases make sense, the first can be considered another
mis-design of the language because it never has any practical use.
Foo.method = function() {
function test() {
// this is set to the global object
}
test();
};
A common misconception is that this inside of test refers to Foo; while in
fact, it does not.
In order to gain access to Foo from within test, you can create a
local variable inside of method that refers to Foo.
Foo.method = function() {
var self = this;
function test() {
// Use self instead of this here
}
test();
};
self is just a normal variable name, but it is commonly used for the reference to an
outer this. In combination with closures, it can also
be used to pass this values around.
As of ECMAScript 5 you can use the bind method combined with an anonymous function to achieve the same result.
Foo.method = function() {
var test = function() {
// this now refers to Foo
}.bind(this);
test();
};
Assigning Methods
Another thing that does not work in JavaScript is function aliasing, which is
assigning a method to a variable.
var test = someObject.methodTest;
test();
Due to the first case, test now acts like a plain function call; therefore,
this inside it will no longer refer to someObject.
While the late binding of this might seem like a bad idea at first, in
fact, it is what makes prototypal inheritance work.
function Foo() {}
Foo.prototype.method = function() {};
function Bar() {}
Bar.prototype = Foo.prototype;
new Bar().method();
When method gets called on an instance of Bar, this will now refer to that
very instance.
Closures and References
One of JavaScript's most powerful features is the availability of closures.
With closures, scopes always keep access to the outer scope, in which they
were defined. Since the only scoping that JavaScript has is
function scope, all functions, by default, act as closures.
Emulating private variables
function Counter(start) {
var count = start;
return {
increment: function() {
count++;
},
get: function() {
return count;
}
}
}
var foo = Counter(4);
foo.increment();
foo.get(); // 5
Here, Counter returns two closures: the function increment as well as
the function get. Both of these functions keep a reference to the scope of
Counter and, therefore, always keep access to the count variable that was
defined in that scope.
Why Private Variables Work
Since it is not possible to reference or assign scopes in JavaScript, there is
no way of accessing the variable count from the outside. The only way to
interact with it is via the two closures.
var foo = new Counter(4);
foo.hackFail = function() {
count = 1337;
};
The above code will not change the variable count in the scope of Counter,
since foo.hackFail was not defined in that scope. It will instead create - or
override - the global variable count.
Closures Inside Loops
One often made mistake is to use closures inside of loops, as if they were
copying the value of the loop's index variable.
for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
setTimeout(function() {
console.log(i);
}, 1000);
}
The above will not output the numbers 0 through 9, but will simply print
the number 10 ten times.
The anonymous function keeps a reference to i. At the time
console.log gets called, the for loop has already finished, and the value of
i has been set to 10.
In order to get the desired behavior, it is necessary to create a copy of
the value of i.
Avoiding the Reference Problem
In order to copy the value of the loop's index variable, it is best to use an
anonymous wrapper.
for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
(function(e) {
setTimeout(function() {
console.log(e);
}, 1000);
})(i);
}
The anonymous outer function gets called immediately with i as its first
argument and will receive a copy of the value of i as its parameter e.
The anonymous function that gets passed to setTimeout now has a reference to
e, whose value does not get changed by the loop.
There is another possible way of achieving this, which is to return a function
from the anonymous wrapper that will then have the same behavior as the code
above.
for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
setTimeout((function(e) {
return function() {
console.log(e);
}
})(i), 1000)
}
The other popular way to achieve this is to add an additional argument to
the setTimeout function, which passes these arguments to the callback.
for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
setTimeout(function(e) {
console.log(e);
}, 1000, i);
}
Some legacy JS environments (Internet Explorer 9 & below) do not support this.
There's yet another way to accomplish this by using .bind, which can bind
a this context and arguments to function. It behaves identically to the code
above
for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
setTimeout(console.log.bind(console, i), 1000);
}
The arguments Object
Every function scope in JavaScript can access the special variable arguments.
This variable holds a list of all the arguments that were passed to the function.
The arguments object is not an Array. While it has some of the
semantics of an array - namely the length property - it does not inherit from
Array.prototype and is in fact an Object.
Due to this, it is not possible to use standard array methods like push,
pop or slice on arguments. While iteration with a plain for loop works
just fine, it is necessary to convert it to a real Array in order to use the
standard Array methods on it.
Converting to an Array
The code below will return a new Array containing all the elements of the
arguments object.
Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments);
Because this conversion is slow, it is not recommended to use it in
performance-critical sections of code.
Passing Arguments
The following is the recommended way of passing arguments from one function to
another.
function foo() {
bar.apply(null, arguments);
}
function bar(a, b, c) {
// do stuff here
}
Another trick is to use both call and apply together to turn methods - functions that use the
value of this as well as their arguments - into normal functions which only use their arguments.
function Person(first, last) {
this.first = first;
this.last = last;
}
Person.prototype.fullname = function(joiner, options) {
options = options || { order: "western" };
var first = options.order === "western" ? this.first : this.last;
var last = options.order === "western" ? this.last : this.first;
return first + (joiner || " ") + last;
};
// Create an unbound version of "fullname", usable on any object with 'first'
// and 'last' properties passed as the first argument. This wrapper will
// not need to change if fullname changes in number or order of arguments.
Person.fullname = function() {
// Result: Person.prototype.fullname.call(this, joiner, ..., argN);
return Function.call.apply(Person.prototype.fullname, arguments);
};
var grace = new Person("Grace", "Hopper");
// 'Grace Hopper'
grace.fullname();
// 'Turing, Alan'
Person.fullname({ first: "Alan", last: "Turing" }, ", ", { order: "eastern" });
Formal Parameters and Arguments Indices
The arguments object creates getter and setter functions for both its
properties, as well as the function's formal parameters.
As a result, changing the value of a formal parameter will also change the value
of the corresponding property on the arguments object, and the other way around.
function foo(a, b, c) {
arguments[0] = 2;
a; // 2
b = 4;
arguments[1]; // 4
var d = c;
d = 9;
c; // 3
}
foo(1, 2, 3);
Performance Myths and Truths
The only time the arguments object is not created is where it is declared as
a name inside of a function or one of its formal parameters. It does not matter
whether it is used or not.
Both getters and setters are always created; thus, using it has nearly
no performance impact at all, especially not in real world code where there is
more than a simple access to the arguments object's properties.
However, there is one case which will drastically reduce the performance in
modern JavaScript engines. That case is the use of arguments.callee.
function foo() {
arguments.callee; // do something with this function object
arguments.callee.caller; // and the calling function object
}
function bigLoop() {
for(var i = 0; i < 100000; i++) {
foo(); // Would normally be inlined...
}
}
In the above code, foo can no longer be a subject to inlining since it
needs to know about both itself and its caller. This not only defeats possible
performance gains that would arise from inlining, but it also breaks encapsulation
because the function may now be dependent on a specific calling context.
Making use of arguments.callee or any of its properties is highly discouraged.
Constructors
Constructors in JavaScript are yet again different from many other languages. Any
function call that is preceded by the new keyword acts as a constructor.
Inside the constructor - the called function - the value of this refers to a
newly created object. The prototype of this new
object is set to the prototype of the function object that was invoked as the
constructor.
If the function that was called has no explicit return statement, then it
implicitly returns the value of this - the new object.
function Person(name) {
this.name = name;
}
Person.prototype.logName = function() {
console.log(this.name);
};
var sean = new Person();
The above calls Person as constructor and sets the prototype of the newly
created object to Person.prototype.
In case of an explicit return statement, the function returns the value
specified by that statement, but only if the return value is an Object.
function Car() {
return 'ford';
}
new Car(); // a new object, not 'ford'
function Person() {
this.someValue = 2;
return {
name: 'Charles'
};
}
new Person(); // the returned object ({name:'Charles'}), not including someValue
When the new keyword is omitted, the function will not return a new object.
function Pirate() {
this.hasEyePatch = true; // gets set on the global object!
}
var somePirate = Pirate(); // somePirate is undefined
While the above example might still appear to work in some cases, due to the
workings of this in JavaScript, it will use the
global object as the value of this.
Factories
In order to be able to omit the new keyword, the constructor function has to
explicitly return a value.
function Robot() {
var color = 'gray';
return {
getColor: function() {
return color;
}
}
}
new Robot();
Robot();
Both calls to Robot return the same thing, a newly created object that
has a property called getColor, which is a
Closure.
It should also be noted that the call new Robot() does not affect the
prototype of the returned object. While the prototype will be set on the newly
created object, Robot never returns that new object.
In the above example, there is no functional difference between using and
not using the new keyword.
Creating New Objects via Factories
It is often recommended to not use new because forgetting its use may
lead to bugs.
In order to create a new object, one should rather use a factory and construct a
new object inside of that factory.
function CarFactory() {
var car = {};
car.owner = 'nobody';
var milesPerGallon = 2;
car.setOwner = function(newOwner) {
this.owner = newOwner;
}
car.getMPG = function() {
return milesPerGallon;
}
return car;
}
While the above is robust against a missing new keyword and certainly makes
the use of private variables easier, it comes with some
downsides.
It uses more memory since the created objects do not share the methods
on a prototype.
In order to inherit, the factory needs to copy all the methods from another
object or put that object on the prototype of the new object.
Dropping the prototype chain just because of a left out new keyword
is contrary to the spirit of the language.
In Conclusion
While omitting the new keyword might lead to bugs, it is certainly not a
reason to drop the use of prototypes altogether. In the end it comes down to
which solution is better suited for the needs of the application. It is
especially important to choose a specific style of object creation and use it
consistently.
Scopes and Namespaces
Although JavaScript deals fine with the syntax of two matching curly
braces for blocks, it does not support block scope; hence, all that is left
in the language is function scope.
function test() { // a scope
for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++) { // not a scope
// count
}
console.log(i); // 10
}
There are also no distinct namespaces in JavaScript, which means that everything
gets defined in one globally shared namespace.
Each time a variable is referenced, JavaScript will traverse upwards through all
the scopes until it finds it. In the case that it reaches the global scope and
still has not found the requested name, it will raise a ReferenceError.
The Bane of Global Variables
// script A
foo = '42';
// script B
var foo = '42'
The above two scripts do not have the same effect. Script A defines a
variable called foo in the global scope, and script B defines a foo in the
current scope.
Again, that is not at all the same effect: not using var can have major
implications.
// global scope
var foo = 42;
function test() {
// local scope
foo = 21;
}
test();
foo; // 21
Leaving out the var statement inside the function test will override the
value of foo. While this might not seem like a big deal at first, having
thousands of lines of JavaScript and not using var will introduce horrible,
hard-to-track-down bugs.
// global scope
var items = [/* some list */];
for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
subLoop();
}
function subLoop() {
// scope of subLoop
for(i = 0; i < 10; i++) { // missing var statement
// do amazing stuff!
}
}
The outer loop will terminate after the first call to subLoop, since subLoop
overwrites the global value of i. Using a var for the second for loop would
have easily avoided this error. The var statement should never be left out
unless the desired effect is to affect the outer scope.
Local Variables
The only source for local variables in JavaScript are
function parameters and variables declared via the
var statement.
// global scope
var foo = 1;
var bar = 2;
var i = 2;
function test(i) {
// local scope of the function test
i = 5;
var foo = 3;
bar = 4;
}
test(10);
While foo and i are local variables inside the scope of the function test,
the assignment of bar will override the global variable with the same name.
Hoisting
JavaScript hoists declarations. This means that both var statements and
function declarations will be moved to the top of their enclosing scope.
bar();
var bar = function() {};
var someValue = 42;
test();
function test(data) {
if (false) {
goo = 1;
} else {
var goo = 2;
}
for(var i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
var e = data[i];
}
}
The above code gets transformed before execution starts. JavaScript moves
the var statements, as well as function declarations, to the top of the
nearest surrounding scope.
// var statements got moved here
var bar, someValue; // default to 'undefined'
// the function declaration got moved up too
function test(data) {
var goo, i, e; // missing block scope moves these here
if (false) {
goo = 1;
} else {
goo = 2;
}
for(i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
e = data[i];
}
}
bar(); // fails with a TypeError since bar is still 'undefined'
someValue = 42; // assignments are not affected by hoisting
bar = function() {};
test();
Missing block scoping will not only move var statements out of loops and
their bodies, it will also make the results of certain if constructs
non-intuitive.
In the original code, although the if statement seemed to modify the global
variablegoo, it actually modifies the local variable - after hoisting
has been applied.
Without knowledge of hoisting, one might suspect the code below would raise a
ReferenceError.
// check whether SomeImportantThing has been initialized
if (!SomeImportantThing) {
var SomeImportantThing = {};
}
But of course, this works due to the fact that the var statement is being
moved to the top of the global scope.
var SomeImportantThing;
// other code might initialize SomeImportantThing here, or not
// make sure it's there
if (!SomeImportantThing) {
SomeImportantThing = {};
}
Name Resolution Order
All scopes in JavaScript, including the global scope, have the special name
this, defined in them, which refers to the current object.
Function scopes also have the name arguments, defined in
them, which contains the arguments that were passed to the function.
For example, when trying to access a variable named foo inside the scope of a
function, JavaScript will look up the name in the following order:
In case there is a var foo statement in the current scope, use that.
If one of the function parameters is named foo, use that.
If the function itself is called foo, use that.
Go to the next outer scope, and start with #1 again.
Namespaces
A common problem associated with having only one global namespace is the
likelihood of running into problems where variable names clash. In JavaScript,
this problem can easily be avoided with the help of anonymous wrappers.
(function() {
// a self contained "namespace"
window.foo = function() {
// an exposed closure
};
})(); // execute the function immediately
Unnamed functions are considered expressions; so in order to
be callable, they must first be evaluated.
( // evaluate the function inside the parentheses
function() {}
) // and return the function object
() // call the result of the evaluation
There are other ways to evaluate and directly call the function expression
which, while different in syntax, behave the same way.
// A few other styles for directly invoking the
!function(){}()
+function(){}()
(function(){}());
void function(){}();
// and so on...
In Conclusion
It is recommended to always use an anonymous wrapper to encapsulate code in
its own namespace. This does not only protect code against name clashes, but it
also allows for better modularization of programs.
Additionally, the use of global variables is considered bad practice. Any
use of them indicates badly written code that is prone to errors and hard to maintain.
Arrays
Array Iteration and Properties
Although arrays in JavaScript are objects, there are no good reasons to use
the for in loop. In fact, there
are a number of good reasons against the use of for in on arrays.
Because the for in loop enumerates all the properties that are on the prototype
chain and because the only way to exclude those properties is to use
hasOwnProperty, it is already up to twenty times
slower than a normal for loop.
Iteration
In order to achieve the best performance when iterating over arrays, it is best
to use the classic for loop.
var list = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ...... 100000000];
for(var i = 0, l = list.length; i < l; i++) {
console.log(list[i]);
}
There is one extra catch in the above example, which is the caching of the
length of the array via l = list.length.
Although the length property is defined on the array itself, there is still an
overhead for doing the lookup on each iteration of the loop. And while recent
JavaScript engines may apply optimization in this case, there is no way of
telling whether the code will run on one of these newer engines or not.
In fact, leaving out the caching may result in the loop being only half as
fast as with the cached length.
The length Property
While the getter of the length property simply returns the number of
elements that are contained in the array, the setter can be used to
truncate the array.
Assigning a smaller length truncates the array. Increasing it creates a sparse array.
In Conclusion
For the best performance, it is recommended to always use the plain for loop
and cache the length property. The use of for in on an array is a sign of
badly written code that is prone to bugs and bad performance.
The Array Constructor
Since the Array constructor is ambiguous in how it deals with its parameters,
it is highly recommended to use the array literal - [] notation -
when creating new arrays.
In cases when there is only one argument passed to the Array constructor
and when that argument is a Number, the constructor will return a new sparse
array with the length property set to the value of the argument. It should be
noted that only the length property of the new array will be set this way;
the actual indexes of the array will not be initialized.
var arr = new Array(3);
arr[1]; // undefined
1 in arr; // false, the index was not set
Being able to set the length of the array in advance is only useful in a few
cases, like repeating a string, in which it avoids the use of a loop.
new Array(count + 1).join(stringToRepeat);
In Conclusion
Literals are preferred to the Array constructor. They are shorter, have a clearer syntax, and increase code
readability.
Types
Equality and Comparisons
JavaScript has two different ways of comparing the values of objects for equality.
The Equality Operator
The equality operator consists of two equal signs: ==
JavaScript features weak typing. This means that the equality operator
coerces types in order to compare them.
The above table shows the results of the type coercion, and it is the main reason
why the use of == is widely regarded as bad practice. It introduces
hard-to-track-down bugs due to its complicated conversion rules.
Additionally, there is also a performance impact when type coercion is in play;
for example, a string has to be converted to a number before it can be compared
to another number.
The Strict Equality Operator
The strict equality operator consists of three equal signs: ===.
It works like the normal equality operator, except that strict equality
operator does not perform type coercion between its operands.
The above results are a lot clearer and allow for early breakage of code. This
hardens code to a certain degree and also gives performance improvements in case
the operands are of different types.
Comparing Objects
While both == and === are called equality operators, they behave
differently when at least one of their operands is an Object.
{} === {}; // false
new String('foo') === 'foo'; // false
new Number(10) === 10; // false
var foo = {};
foo === foo; // true
Here, both operators compare for identity and not equality; that is, they
will compare for the same instance of the object, much like is in Python
and pointer comparison in C.
In Conclusion
It is highly recommended to only use the strict equality operator. In cases
where types need to be coerced, it should be done explicitly
and not left to the language's complicated coercion rules.
The typeof Operator
The typeof operator (together with
instanceof) is probably the biggest
design flaw of JavaScript, as it is almost completely broken.
Although instanceof still has limited uses, typeof really has only one
practical use case, which does not happen to be checking the type of an
object.
The JavaScript Type Table
Value Class Type
-------------------------------------
"foo" String string
new String("foo") String object
1.2 Number number
new Number(1.2) Number object
true Boolean boolean
new Boolean(true) Boolean object
new Date() Date object
new Error() Error object
[1,2,3] Array object
new Array(1, 2, 3) Array object
new Function("") Function function
/abc/g RegExp object (function in Nitro/V8)
new RegExp("meow") RegExp object (function in Nitro/V8)
{} Object object
new Object() Object object
In the above table, Type refers to the value that the typeof operator returns.
As can be clearly seen, this value is anything but consistent.
The Class refers to the value of the internal [[Class]] property of an object.
The Class of an Object
The only way to determine an object's [[Class]] value is using Object.prototype.toString. It
returns a string in the following format: '[object ' + valueOfClass + ']', e.g [object String] or
[object Array]:
In the above example, Object.prototype.toString gets called with the value of
this being set to the object whose [[Class]] value should be
retrieved.
Testing for Undefined Variables
typeof foo !== 'undefined'
The above will check whether foo was actually declared or not; just
referencing it would result in a ReferenceError. This is the only thing
typeof is actually useful for.
In Conclusion
In order to check the type of an object, it is highly recommended to use
Object.prototype.toString because this is the only reliable way of doing so.
As shown in the above type table, some return values of typeof are not defined
in the specification; thus, they can differ between implementations.
Unless checking whether a variable is defined, typeof should be avoided.
The instanceof Operator
The instanceof operator compares the constructors of its two operands. It is
only useful when comparing custom made objects. Used on built-in types, it is
nearly as useless as the typeof operator.
Comparing Custom Objects
function Foo() {}
function Bar() {}
Bar.prototype = new Foo();
new Bar() instanceof Bar; // true
new Bar() instanceof Foo; // true
// This just sets Bar.prototype to the function object Foo,
// but not to an actual instance of Foo
Bar.prototype = Foo;
new Bar() instanceof Foo; // false
One important thing to note here is that instanceof does not work on objects
that originate from different JavaScript contexts (e.g. different documents
in a web browser), since their constructors will not be the exact same object.
In Conclusion
The instanceof operator should only be used when dealing with custom made
objects that originate from the same JavaScript context. Just like the
typeof operator, every other use of it should be avoided.
Type Casting
JavaScript is a weakly typed language, so it will apply type coercionwherever possible.
// These are true
new Number(10) == 10; // Number object is converted
// to a number primitive via implicit call of
// Number.prototype.valueOf method
10 == '10'; // Strings gets converted to Number
10 == '+10 '; // More string madness
10 == '010'; // And more
isNaN(null) == false; // null converts to 0
// which of course is not NaN
// These are false
10 == 010;
10 == '-10';
To avoid the issues above, use of the strict equal operator
is highly recommended. Although this avoids a lot of common pitfalls, there
are still many further issues that arise from JavaScript's weak typing system.
Constructors of Built-In Types
The constructors of the built in types like Number and String behave
differently when being used with the new keyword and without it.
new Number(10) === 10; // False, Object and Number
Number(10) === 10; // True, Number and Number
new Number(10) + 0 === 10; // True, due to implicit conversion
Using a built-in type like Number as a constructor will create a new Number
object, but leaving out the new keyword will make the Number function behave
like a converter.
In addition, passing literals or non-object values will result in even more
type coercion.
The best option is to cast to one of the three possible types explicitly.
Casting to a String
'' + 10 === '10'; // true
By prepending an empty string, a value can easily be cast to a string.
Casting to a Number
+'10' === 10; // true
Using the unary plus operator, it is possible to cast to a number.
Casting to a Boolean
By using the not operator twice, a value can be converted to a boolean.
The eval function will execute a string of JavaScript code in the local scope.
var number = 1;
function test() {
var number = 2;
eval('number = 3');
return number;
}
test(); // 3
number; // 1
However, eval only executes in the local scope when it is being called
directly and when the name of the called function is actually eval.
var number = 1;
function test() {
var number = 2;
var copyOfEval = eval;
copyOfEval('number = 3');
return number;
}
test(); // 2
number; // 3
The use of eval should be avoided. 99.9% of its "uses" can be achieved
without it.
eval in Disguise
The timeout functionssetTimeout and setInterval can both
take a string as their first argument. This string will always get executed
in the global scope since eval is not being called directly in that case.
Security Issues
eval also is a security problem, because it executes any code given to it.
It should never be used with strings of unknown or untrusted origins.
In Conclusion
eval should never be used. Any code that makes use of it should be questioned
in its workings, performance and security. If something requires eval in
order to work, it should not be used in the first place. A better design
should be used, that does not require the use of eval.
undefined and null
JavaScript has two distinct values for nothing, null and undefined, with
the latter being more useful.
The Value undefined
undefined is a type with exactly one value: undefined.
The language also defines a global variable that has the value of undefined;
this variable is also called undefined. However, this variable is neither a constant
nor a keyword of the language. This means that its value can be easily
overwritten.
Here are some examples of when the value undefined is returned:
Accessing the (unmodified) global variable undefined.
Accessing a declared but not yet initialized variable.
Implicit returns of functions due to missing return statements.
return statements that do not explicitly return anything.
Lookups of non-existent properties.
Function parameters that do not have any explicit value passed.
Anything that has been set to the value of undefined.
Any expression in the form of void(expression)
Handling Changes to the Value of undefined
Since the global variable undefined only holds a copy of the actual value of
undefined, assigning a new value to it does not change the value of the
typeundefined.
Still, in order to compare something against the value of undefined, it is
necessary to retrieve the value of undefined first.
To protect code against a possible overwritten undefined variable, a common
technique used is to add an additional parameter to an anonymous
wrapper that gets no argument passed to it.
var undefined = 123;
(function(something, foo, undefined) {
// undefined in the local scope does
// now again refer to the value `undefined`
})('Hello World', 42);
Another way to achieve the same effect would be to use a declaration inside the
wrapper.
var undefined = 123;
(function(something, foo) {
var undefined;
...
})('Hello World', 42);
The only difference here is that this version results in 4 more bytes being
used in case it is minified, and there is no other var statement inside the
anonymous wrapper.
Uses of null
While undefined in the context of the JavaScript language is mostly used in
the sense of a traditional null, the actual null (both a literal and a type)
is more or less just another data type.
It is used in some JavaScript internals (like declaring the end of the
prototype chain by setting Foo.prototype = null), but in almost all cases, it
can be replaced by undefined.
Automatic Semicolon Insertion
Although JavaScript has C style syntax, it does not enforce the use of
semicolons in the source code, so it is possible to omit them.
JavaScript is not a semicolon-less language. In fact, it needs the
semicolons in order to understand the source code. Therefore, the JavaScript
parser automatically inserts them whenever it encounters a parse
error due to a missing semicolon.
Chances are very high that log does not return a function; therefore,
the above will yield a TypeError stating that undefined is not a function.
In Conclusion
It is highly recommended to never omit semicolons. It is also recommended
that braces be kept on the same line as their corresponding statements and to
never omit them for single-line if / else statements. These measures will
not only improve the consistency of the code, but they will also prevent the
JavaScript parser from changing code behavior.
The delete Operator
In short, it's impossible to delete global variables, functions and some other
stuff in JavaScript which have a DontDelete attribute set.
Global code and Function code
When a variable or a function is defined in a global or a function
scope it is a property of either the Activation object or
the Global object. Such properties have a set of attributes, one of which is
DontDelete. Variable and function declarations in global and function code
always create properties with DontDelete, and therefore cannot be deleted.
// global variable:
var a = 1; // DontDelete is set
delete a; // false
a; // 1
// normal function:
function f() {} // DontDelete is set
delete f; // false
typeof f; // "function"
// reassigning doesn't help:
f = 1;
delete f; // false
f; // 1
Explicit properties
Explicitly set properties can be deleted normally.
In the example above, obj.x and obj.y can be deleted because they have no
DontDelete attribute. That's why the example below works too.
// this works fine, except for IE:
var GLOBAL_OBJECT = this;
GLOBAL_OBJECT.a = 1;
a === GLOBAL_OBJECT.a; // true - just a global var
delete GLOBAL_OBJECT.a; // true
GLOBAL_OBJECT.a; // undefined
Here we use a trick to delete a. this here refers
to the Global object and we explicitly declare variable a as its property
which allows us to delete it.
IE (at least 6-8) has some bugs, so the code above doesn't work.
Function arguments and built-ins
Functions' normal arguments, arguments objects
and built-in properties also have DontDelete set.
The behaviour of delete operator can be unpredictable for hosted objects. Due
to the specification, host objects are allowed to implement any kind of behavior.
In conclusion
The delete operator often has unexpected behaviour and can only be safely
used to delete explicitly set properties on normal objects.
Other
setTimeout and setInterval
Since JavaScript is asynchronous, it is possible to schedule the execution of a
function using the setTimeout and setInterval functions.
function foo() {}
var id = setTimeout(foo, 1000); // returns a Number > 0
When setTimeout is called, it returns the ID of the timeout and schedule
foo to run approximately one thousand milliseconds in the future.
foo will then be executed once.
Depending on the timer resolution of the JavaScript engine running the code, as
well as the fact that JavaScript is single threaded and other code that gets
executed might block the thread, it is by no means a safe bet that one will
get the exact delay specified in the setTimeout call.
The function that was passed as the first parameter will get called by the
global object, which means that this inside the called function
refers to the global object.
function Foo() {
this.value = 42;
this.method = function() {
// this refers to the global object
console.log(this.value); // will log undefined
};
setTimeout(this.method, 500);
}
new Foo();
Stacking Calls with setInterval
While setTimeout only runs the function once, setInterval - as the name
suggests - will execute the function everyX milliseconds, but its use is
discouraged.
When code that is being executed blocks the timeout call, setInterval will
still issue more calls to the specified function. This can, especially with small
intervals, result in function calls stacking up.
function foo(){
// something that blocks for 1 second
}
setInterval(foo, 1000);
In the above code, foo will get called once and will then block for one second.
While foo blocks the code, setInterval will still schedule further calls to
it. Now, when foo has finished, there will already be ten further calls to
it waiting for execution.
Dealing with Possible Blocking Code
The easiest solution, as well as most controllable solution, is to use setTimeout within
the function itself.
function foo(){
// something that blocks for 1 second
setTimeout(foo, 1000);
}
foo();
Not only does this encapsulate the setTimeout call, but it also prevents the
stacking of calls and gives additional control. foo itself can now decide
whether it wants to run again or not.
Manually Clearing Timeouts
Clearing timeouts and intervals works by passing the respective ID to
clearTimeout or clearInterval, depending on which set function was used
in the first place.
var id = setTimeout(foo, 1000);
clearTimeout(id);
Clearing All Timeouts
As there is no built-in method for clearing all timeouts and/or intervals,
it is necessary to use brute force in order to achieve this functionality.
// clear "all" timeouts
for(var i = 1; i < 1000; i++) {
clearTimeout(i);
}
But there might still be timeouts that are unaffected by this arbitrary number.
Another way of doing this is to consider that the ID given to a timeout is
incremented by one every time you call setTimeout.
// clear "all" timeouts
var biggestTimeoutId = window.setTimeout(function(){}, 1),
i;
for(i = 1; i <= biggestTimeoutId; i++) {
clearTimeout(i);
}
Even though this works on all major browsers today, it isn't specified that
the IDs should be ordered that way and it may change. Therefore, it is instead
recommended to keep track of all the timeout IDs, so they can be cleared
specifically.
Hidden Use of eval
setTimeout and setInterval can also take a string as their first parameter.
This feature should never be used because it internally makes use of eval.
function foo() {
// will get called
}
function bar() {
function foo() {
// never gets called
}
setTimeout('foo()', 1000);
}
bar();
Since eval is not getting called directly in this case, the string
passed to setTimeout will be executed in the global scope; thus, it will
not use the local variable foo from the scope of bar.
It is further recommended to not use a string to pass arguments to the
function that will get called by either of the timeout functions.
function foo(a, b, c) {}
// NEVER use this
setTimeout('foo(1, 2, 3)', 1000)
// Instead use an anonymous function
setTimeout(function() {
foo(1, 2, 3);
}, 1000)
In Conclusion
A string should never be used as the parameter of setTimeout or
setInterval. It is a clear sign of really bad code, when arguments need
to be supplied to the function that gets called. An anonymous function should
be passed that then takes care of the actual call.
Furthermore, the use of setInterval should be avoided because its scheduler is not
blocked by executing JavaScript.