JavaScript Module Pattern - What about using "return this"?
- by Rob
After doing some reading about the Module Pattern, I've seen a few ways of returning the properties which you want to be public.
One of the most common ways is to declare your public properties and methods right inside of the "return" statement, apart from your private properties and methods. A similar way (the "Revealing" pattern) is to provide simply references to the properties and methods which you want to be public. Lastly, a third technique I saw was to create a new object inside your module function, to which you assign your new properties before returning said object. This was an interesting idea, but requires the creation of a new object.
So I was thinking, why not just use "this.propertyName" to assign your public properties and methods, and finally use "return this" at the end? This way seems much simpler to me, as you can create private properties and methods with the usual "var" or "function" syntax, or use the "this.propertyName" syntax to declare your public methods.
Here's the method I'm suggesting:
(function() {
var privateMethod = function () {
alert('This is a private method.');
}
this.publicMethod = function () {
alert('This is a public method.');
}
return this;
})();
Are there any pros/cons to using the method above? What about the others?
