Last Updated: February 25, 2016

Common Javascript "Gotchas"

Let's talk about some of the JavaScript 101 problems that noobs to the language encounter. If you're relatively unfamiliar with JavaScript, I highly recommend you read this section - it'll save you a lot of pain down the road.

The 'var' keyword: what exactly does it do?

var declares a variable. But...you don't need it. Both these will work:

var myFunction = function()
{
    // Declares foo, scoped to myFunction
    var foo = 'Hello';      
    // Declares bar...in global scope?
    bar = 'Hello';             
};

But you should never, EVER use the latter. See the comment for the reason why.

If you ever forget the var keyword, your variable will be declared...but it will be scoped globally (to the window object), rather than to the function it was declared in.

This is extremely bizarre behaviour, and really a stupid design decision in the JavaScript language. There are no pragmatic situations where you would want local variables to be declared globally. So remember to always use var in your declarations.

Why are there so many different ways to declare a function? What are the differences?

There are three common ways to define a function in JavaScript:

// NEVER do this!
myFunction = function(arg1, arg2) {};           
// This is OK, but...
function myFunction(arg1, arg2) {};              
// This is best!
var myFunction = function(arg1, arg2) {};

The first option is bad because it declares a function like a variable, but without the var keyword. Read the above point to understand why that's bad...it gets created as a global function!

The second option is better, and is properly scoped, but it leads to certain syntax problems once you get into closures.

The third option is almost always the best, causes the fewest problems, and is syntactically consistent with the rest of your variables.

The 'this' keyword: how does it behave?

this in JavaScript does not behave the way you would expect. Its behaviour is very, very different from other languages.

If you are new to JavaScript, I suggest avoiding the this keyword until you get comfortable with the basics of the language. But when you are comfortable, here's an explanation...

In more sane languages, this gets you a pointer to the current object. But in JavaScript, it means something quite different: it gets you a pointer to the calling context of the given function.

This will make much more sense with an example:

var myFunction = function()
{
    console.log(this);
};
// Create an object and initialize it to something empty
var someObject = new Object();      
// Give someObject a property
someObject.myFunction = myFunction;  
// Logs someObject
someObject.myFunction();                       
// Logs...Window?
myFunction();

That's bizarre, isn't it? Depending on how you call a function, its this pointer changes.

In the first example, because myFunction was a property of someObject, the this pointer referred to someObject.

But in the second example, because myFunction wasn't a property of anything, the this pointer defaults to the "global" object, which is window.

The important take-away here is that this points to whatever is "left of the dot."

As you can imagine, this causes a ton of confusion - particularly for new JavaScript developers. My recommendation is to avoid writing code in such a way that this becomes a problem. In fact, I try to avoid using this for anything but the obvious.

WTF are .constructor and .prototype?

If you're asking this question, it means you're getting knee-deep into JavaScript OOP. Good for you!

The first thing you need to know is that JavaScript does NOT use classical OOP. It uses something called prototypal OOP. This is very, very different. If you really want to know how JavaScript OOP works, you need to read Constructors considered mildly confusing, by Joost Diepenmaat. Joost does a better job of explaining it than I ever will.

But for the lazy, I'll summarize: JavaScript does not have any classes. You don't create a class and spawn new objects off of it like in other languages. Instead, you create a new object, and set its prototype property to point to the old one.

When you refer to an object's property, if that property doesn't exist JavaScript will look at the prototype object...and its prototype, and its prototype, all the way up until it hits the Object object.

So unlike the class/object model you see in other languages, JavaScript relies on a series of "parent pointers."

constructor is a pointer to the function that gets called when you use the new keyword. If you want to learn more about the prototype/constructor relationship, read The Surprisingly Elegant JavaScript Type Model, by Kannan Vijayan. But be prepared to be confused.

WTF is a closure?

Closures are a concept that appear in pure functional languages like JavaScript, but they have started to trickle their way into other languages like PHP and C#. For those unfamiliar, "closure" is a language feature that ensures variables never get destroyed if they are still required.

This explanation is not particularly meaningful in and of itself, so here's an example:

// When someone clicks a button, show a message.
var setup = function()
{
    var clickMessage = "Hi there!";
    $('button').click
    (
        function()
        {
            window.alert(clickMessage);
        }
    );
};
setup();

In a language without closures such as C/C++, you'd likely get an error when that click handler fires because clickMessage will be undefined. It'll have fallen out of scope long ago.

But in a language with closures (like JavaScript), the engine knows that clickMessage is still required, so it keeps it around. When a user clicks a button, they'll see, "Hi there!"

As you can imagine, closures are particularly useful when dealing with event handling, because an event handler often gets executed long after the calling function falls out of scope.

Because of closures, we can go one step further and do something cool like this!

(function()
{
    var clickMessage = "Hi there!";
    $('button').click
    (
        function()
        {
            window.alert(clickMessage);
        }
    );
})();

In the above example, we don't even need to give the function a name! Instead, we execute it once with the () at the end, and forget about it. Nobody can ever reference the function again, but it still exists. And if someone clicks that button, it will still work!

Why does JavaScript have so many different ways to do the same thing?

Because JavaScript is a poorly designed language in a lot of ways. Your best guide to muddle through it is to read JavaScript: The Good Parts, by Douglas Crockford. He clearly outlines which pieces of the language you should ignore.

CREDIT

Author:
Steve Kwan, Project Lead, EASPORTS.com
Electronic Arts
mail@stevekwan.com
http://www.stevekwan.com/

Originally from my GitHub:
https://github.com/stevekwan/best-practices/

#javascript