The module pattern is a common JavaScript coding pattern. It’s generally well understood, but there are a number of advanced uses that have not gotten ...
The module pattern is a common JavaScript coding pattern. It’s generally well understood, but there are a number of advanced uses that have not gotten a lot of attention. In this article, I’ll review the basics and cover some truly remarkable advanced topics, including one which I think is original.
The Basics
We’ll start out with a simple overview of the module pattern, which has been well-known since Eric Miraglia (of YUI) first blogged about it three years ago. If you’re already familiar with the module pattern, feel free to skip ahead to “Advanced Patterns”.
Anonymous Closures
This is the fundamental construct that makes it all possible, and really is the single best feature of JavaScript. We’ll simply create an anonymous function, and execute it immediately. All of the code that runs inside the function lives in a closure, which provides privacy and state throughout the lifetime of our application.
(function () {
// ... all vars and functions are in this scope only
// still maintains access to all globals
}());
Notice the ()
around the anonymous function. This is required by the language, since statements that begin with the token function
are always considered to be function declarations. Including ()
creates a function expression instead.
Global Import
JavaScript has a feature known as implied globals. Whenever a name is used, the interpreter walks the scope chain backwards looking for a var
statement for that name. If none is found, that variable is assumed to be global. If it’s used in an assignment, the global is created if it doesn’t already exist. This means that using or creating global variables in an anonymous closure is easy. Unfortunately, this leads to hard-to-manage code, as it’s not obvious (to humans) which variables are global in a given file.
Luckily, our anonymous function provides an easy alternative. By passing globals as parameters to our anonymous function, we import them into our code, which is both clearer and faster than implied globals. Here’s an example:
(function ($, YAHOO) {
// now have access to globals jQuery (as $) and YAHOO in this code
}(jQuery, YAHOO));
Module Export
Sometimes you don’t just want to use globals, but you want to declare them. We can easily do this by exporting them, using the anonymous function’s return value. Doing so will complete the basic module pattern, so here’s a complete example:
var MODULE = (function () {
var my = {},
privateVariable = 1;
function privateMethod() {
// ...
}
my.moduleProperty = 1;
my.moduleMethod = function () {
// ...
};
return my;
}());
Notice that we’ve declared a global module named MODULE
, with two public properties: a method named MODULE.moduleMethod
and a variable named MODULE.moduleProperty
. In addition, it maintains private internal stateusing the closure of the anonymous function. Also, we can easily import needed globals, using the pattern we learned above.
Advanced Patterns
While the above is enough for many uses, we can take this pattern farther and create some very powerful, extensible constructs. Lets work through them one-by-one, continuing with our module named MODULE
.
Augmentation
One limitation of the module pattern so far is that the entire module must be in one file. Anyone who has worked in a large code-base understands the value of splitting among multiple files. Luckily, we have a nice solution to augment modules. First, we import the module, then we add properties, then we export it. Here’s an example, augmenting our MODULE
from above:
var MODULE = (function (my) {
my.anotherMethod = function () {
// added method...
};
return my;
}(MODULE));
We use the var
keyword again for consistency, even though it’s not necessary. After this code has run, our module will have gained a new public method named MODULE.anotherMethod
. This augmentation file will also maintain its own private internal state and imports.
Loose Augmentation
While our example above requires our initial module creation to be first, and the augmentation to happen second, that isn’t always necessary. One of the best things a JavaScript application can do for performance is to load scripts asynchronously. We can create flexible multi-part modules that can load themselves in any order with loose augmentation. Each file should have the following structure:
var MODULE = (function (my) {
// add capabilities...
return my;
}(MODULE || {}));
In this pattern, the var
statement is always necessary. Note that the import will create the module if it does not already exist. This means you can use a tool like LABjs and load all of your module files in parallel, without needing to block.
Tight Augmentation
While loose augmentation is great, it does place some limitations on your module. Most importantly, you cannot override module properties safely. You also cannot use module properties from other files during initialization (but you can at run-time after intialization). Tight augmentation implies a set loading order, but allows overrides. Here is a simple example (augmenting our original MODULE
):
var MODULE = (function (my) {
var old_moduleMethod = my.moduleMethod;
my.moduleMethod = function () {
// method override, has access to old through old_moduleMethod...
};
return my;
}(MODULE));
Here we’ve overridden MODULE.moduleMethod
, but maintain a reference to the original method, if needed.
Cloning and Inheritance
var MODULE_TWO = (function (old) {
var my = {},
key;
for (key in old) {
if (old.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
my[key] = old[key];
}
}
var super_moduleMethod = old.moduleMethod;
my.moduleMethod = function () {
// override method on the clone, access to super through super_moduleMethod
};
return my;
}(MODULE));
This pattern is perhaps the least flexible option. It does allow some neat compositions, but that comes at the expense of flexibility. As I’ve written it, properties which are objects or functions will not be duplicated, they will exist as one object with two references. Changing one will change the other. This could be fixed for objects with a recursive cloning process, but probably cannot be fixed for functions, except perhaps with eval
. Nevertheless, I’ve included it for completeness.
Cross-File Private State
One severe limitation of splitting a module across multiple files is that each file maintains its own private state, and does not get access to the private state of the other files. This can be fixed. Here is an example of a loosely augmented module that will maintain private state across all augmentations:
var MODULE = (function (my) {
var _private = my._private = my._private || {},
_seal = my._seal = my._seal || function () {
delete my._private;
delete my._seal;
delete my._unseal;
},
_unseal = my._unseal = my._unseal || function () {
my._private = _private;
my._seal = _seal;
my._unseal = _unseal;
};
// permanent access to _private, _seal, and _unseal
return my;
}(MODULE || {}));
Any file can set properties on their local variable _private
, and it will be immediately available to the others. Once this module has loaded completely, the application should call MODULE._seal()
, which will prevent external access to the internal _private
. If this module were to be augmented again, further in the application’s lifetime, one of the internal methods, in any file, can call _unseal()
before loading the new file, and call _seal()
again after it has been executed. This pattern occurred to me today while I was at work, I have not seen this elsewhere. I think this is a very useful pattern, and would have been worth writing about all on its own.
Sub-modules
Our final advanced pattern is actually the simplest. There are many good cases for creating sub-modules. It is just like creating regular modules:
MODULE.sub = (function () {
var my = {};
// ...
return my;
}());
While this may have been obvious, I thought it worth including. Sub-modules have all the advanced capabilities of normal modules, including augmentation and private state.
Conclusions
Most of the advanced patterns can be combined with each other to create more useful patterns. If I had to advocate a route to take in designing a complex application, I’d combine loose augmentation, private state, and sub-modules.
I haven’t touched on performance here at all, but I’d like to put in one quick note: The module pattern is good for performance. It minifies really well, which makes downloading the code faster. Using loose augmentation allows easy non-blocking parallel downloads, which also speeds up download speeds. Initialization time is probably a bit slower than other methods, but worth the trade-off. Run-time performance should suffer no penalties so long as globals are imported correctly, and will probably gain speed in sub-modules by shortening the reference chain with local variables.
To close, here’s an example of a sub-module that loads itself dynamically to its parent (creating it if it does not exist). I’ve left out private state for brevity, but including it would be simple. This code pattern allows an entire complex heirarchical code-base to be loaded completely in parallel with itself, sub-modules and all.
var UTIL = (function (parent, $) {
var my = parent.ajax = parent.ajax || {};
my.get = function (url, params, callback) {
// ok, so I'm cheating a bit :)
return $.getJSON(url, params, callback);
};
// etc...
return parent;
}(UTIL || {}, jQuery));
I hope this has been useful, and please leave a comment to share your thoughts. Now, go forth and write better, more modular JavaScript!
中文解釋:
模塊模式是JavaScript一種常用的編碼模式。這是一般的理解,但也有一些高級應用沒有得到很多關註。在本文中,我將回顧基礎知識,瀏覽一些不錯的高級技巧,甚至我認為是原生基礎的。基礎知識
首先我們開始簡單概述模型模式。三年前Eric Miraglia(YUI)的博文使模型模式眾所周知。如果你已經很熟悉模型模式,可以直接閱讀“高級模式”。
匿名閉包
這是一切成為可能的基礎,也是JavaScript最好的特性。我們將簡單的創建匿名函數,並立即執行。所有函數內部代碼都在閉包(closure)內。它提供了整個應用生命周期的私有和狀態。
(function () {
// ... all vars and functions are in this scope only
// still maintains access to all globals
}());
註意匿名函數周圍的()。這是語言的要求。關鍵字function一般認為是函數聲明,包括()就是函數表達式。
引入全局
JavaScript有個特性,稱為隱性全局。使用變數名稱時,解釋器會從作用域向後尋找變數聲明。如果沒找到,變數會被假定入全局(以後可以全局調用)。如果會被分配使用,在還不存在時全局創建它。這意味著在匿名函數里使用全局變數很簡單。不幸的是,這會導致代碼難以管理,文件中不容易區分(對人而言)哪個變數是全局的。
幸好,匿名函數還有一個不錯的選擇。全局變數作為參數傳遞給匿名函數。將它們引入我們的代碼中,既更清晰,又比使用隱性全局更快。下麵是一個例子:
(function ($, YAHOO) {
// 當前域有許可權訪問全局jQuery($)和YAHOO
}(jQuery, YAHOO));
翻譯得不錯哦!
模塊出口
有時你不只想用全局變數,但你需要先聲明他們(模塊的全局調用)。我們用匿名函數的返回值,很容易輸出他們。這樣做就完成了基本的模塊模式。以下是一個完整例子:
var MODULE = (function () {
var my = {},
privateVariable = 1;
function privateMethod() {
// ...
}
my.moduleProperty = 1;
my.moduleMethod = function () {
// ...
};
return my;
}());
註意,我們聲明瞭一個全局模塊MODULE,有兩個公開屬性:方法MODULE.moduleMethod和屬性MODULE.moduleProperty。而且,匿名函數的閉包還維持了私有內部狀態。同時學會之上的內容,我們就很容易引入需要的全局變數,和輸出到全局變數。
高級模式
對許多用戶而言以上的還不足,我們可以採用以下的模式創造強大的,可擴展的結構。讓我們使用MODULE模塊,一個一個繼續。
擴充
模塊模式的一個限制是整個模塊必須在一個文件里。任何人都瞭解長代碼分割到不同文件的必要。還好,我們有很好的辦法擴充模塊。(在擴充文件)首先我們引入模塊(從全局),給他添加屬性,再輸出他。下麵是一個例子擴充模塊:
var MODULE = (function (my) {
my.anotherMethod = function () {
// 此前的MODULE返回my對象作為全局輸出,因此這個匿名函數的參數MODULE就是上面MODULE匿名函數里的my
};
return my;
}(MODULE));
我們再次使用var關鍵字以保持一致性,雖然其實沒必要。代碼執行後,模塊獲得一個新公開方法MODULE.anotherMethod。擴充文件沒有影響模塊的私有內部狀態
松耦合擴充
上面的例子需要我們首先創建模塊,然後擴充它,這並不總是必要的。提升JavaScript應用性能最好的操作就是非同步載入腳本。因而我們可以創建靈活多部分的模塊,可以將他們無順序載入,以松耦合擴充。每個文件應有如下的結構:
var MODULE = (function (my) {
// add capabilities...
return my;
}(MODULE || {}));
這個模式里,var語句是必須的,以標記引入時不存在會創建。這意味著你可以像LABjs一樣同時載入所有模塊文件而不被阻塞。
緊耦合擴充
雖然松耦合很不錯,但模塊上也有些限制。最重要的,你不能安全的覆寫模塊屬性(因為沒有載入順序)。初始化時也無法使用其他文件定義的模塊屬性(但你可以在初始化後運行)。緊耦合擴充意味著一組載入順序,但是允許覆寫。下麵是一個例子(擴充最初定義的MODULE):
var MODULE = (function (my) {
var old_moduleMethod = my.moduleMethod;
my.moduleMethod = function () {
// method override, has access to old through old_moduleMethod...
};
return my;
}(MODULE));
我們覆寫的MODULE.moduleMethod,但依舊保持著私有內部狀態
克隆和繼承
var MODULE_TWO = (function (old) {
var my = {},
key;
for (key in old) {
if (old.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
my[key] = old[key];
}
}
var super_moduleMethod = old.moduleMethod;
my.moduleMethod = function () {
// override method on the clone, access to super through super_moduleMethod
};
return my;
}(MODULE));
這種方式也許最不靈活。他可以實現巧妙的組合,但是犧牲了靈活性。正如我寫的,對象的屬性或方法不是拷貝,而是一個對象的兩個引用。修改一個會影響其他。這可能可以保持遞歸克隆對象的屬性固定,但無法固定方法,除了帶eval的方法。不過,我已經完整的包含了模塊。(其實就是做了一次淺拷貝)。
跨文件私有狀態
一個模塊分割成幾個文件有一個嚴重缺陷。每個文件都有自身的私有狀態,且無權訪問別的文件的私有狀態。這可以修複的。下麵是一個松耦合擴充的例子,不同擴充文件之間保持了私有狀態:
var MODULE = (function (my) {
var _private = my._private = my._private || {},
_seal = my._seal = my._seal || function () {
delete my._private;
delete my._seal;
delete my._unseal;
},//模塊載入後,調用以移除對_private的訪問許可權
_unseal = my._unseal = my._unseal || function () {
my._private = _private;
my._seal = _seal;
my._unseal = _unseal;
};//模塊載入前,開啟對_private的訪問,以實現擴充部分對私有內容的操作
// permanent access to _private, _seal, and _unseal
return my;
}(MODULE || {}));
任何文件都可以在本地的變數_private中設置屬性,他會對別的擴充立即生效(即初始化時所有擴充的私有狀態都保存在_private變數,並被my._private輸出)。模塊完全載入了,應用調用MODULE._seal()方法阻止對私有屬性的讀取(幹掉my._private輸出)。如果此後模塊又需要擴充,帶有一個私有方法。載入擴充文件前調用MODULE._unseal()方法(恢復my._private,外部恢復操作許可權)。載入後調用再seal()。
子模塊
最後的高級模式實際上最簡單。有很多好方法創建子模塊。和創建父模塊是一樣的:
MODULE.sub = (function () {
var my = {};
// 就是多一級命名空間
return my;
}());
雖然很簡單,但我還是提一下。子模塊有所有正常模塊的功能,包括擴充和私有狀態。