Object methods, "this"

Objects are usually created to represent entities of the real world, like users, orders and so on:

let user = {
  name: "John",
  age: 30
};

And, in the real world, a user can act: select something from the shopping cart, login, logout etc.

Actions are represented in JavaScript by functions in properties.

Method examples

For a start, let’s teach the user to say hello:

let user = {
  name: "John",
  age: 30
};

user.sayHi = function() {
  alert("Hello!");
};

user.sayHi(); // Hello!

Here we’ve just used a Function Expression to create the function and assign it to the property user.sayHi of the object.

Then we can call it. The user can now speak!

A function that is the property of an object is called its method.

So, here we’ve got a method sayHi of the object user.

Of course, we could use a pre-declared function as a method, like this:

let user = {
  // ...
};

// first, declare
function sayHi() {
  alert("Hello!");
};

// then add as a method
user.sayHi = sayHi;

user.sayHi(); // Hello!

Object-oriented programming

When we write our code using objects to represent entities, that’s called an object-oriented programming, in short: “OOP”.

OOP is a big thing, an interesting science of its own. How to choose the right entities? How to organize the interaction between them? That’s architecture, and there are great books on that topic, like “Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software” by E.Gamma, R.Helm, R.Johnson, J.Vissides or “Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications” by G.Booch, and more.

Method shorthand

There exists a shorter syntax for methods in an object literal:

// these objects do the same

user = {
  sayHi: function() {
    alert("Hello");
  }
};

// method shorthand looks better, right?
user = {
  sayHi() { // same as "sayHi: function()"
    alert("Hello");
  }
};

As demonstrated, we can omit "function" and just write sayHi().

To tell the truth, the notations are not fully identical. There are subtle differences related to object inheritance (to be covered later), but for now they do not matter. In almost all cases the shorter syntax is preferred.

“this” in methods

It’s common that an object method needs to access the information stored in the object to do its job.

For instance, the code inside user.sayHi() may need the name of the user.

To access the object, a method can use the this keyword.

The value of this is the object “before dot”, the one used to call the method.

For instance:

let user = {
  name: "John",
  age: 30,

  sayHi() {
    alert(this.name);
  }

};

user.sayHi(); // John

Here during the execution of user.sayHi(), the value of this will be user.

Technically, it’s also possible to access the object without this, by referencing it via the outer variable:

let user = {
  name: "John",
  age: 30,

  sayHi() {
    alert(user.name); // "user" instead of "this"
  }

};

…But such code is unreliable. If we decide to copy user to another variable, e.g. admin = user and overwrite user with something else, then it will access the wrong object.

That’s demonstrated below:

let user = {
  name: "John",
  age: 30,

  sayHi() {
    alert( user.name ); // leads to an error
  }

};


let admin = user;
user = null; // overwrite to make things obvious

admin.sayHi(); // Whoops! inside sayHi(), the old name is used! error!

If we used this.name instead of user.name inside the alert, then the code would work.

“this” is not bound

In JavaScript, “this” keyword behaves unlike most other programming languages. It can be used in any function.

There’s no syntax error in the code like that:

             function sayHi() {
  alert( this.name );
}

The value of this is evaluated during the run-time, depending on the context. And it can be anything.

For instance, here the same function is assigned to two different objects and has different “this” in the calls:

let user = { name: "John" };
let admin = { name: "Admin" };

function sayHi() {
  alert( this.name );
}

// use the same function in two objects
user.f = sayHi;
admin.f = sayHi;

// these calls have different this
// "this" inside the function is the object "before the dot"
user.f(); // John  (this == user)
admin.f(); // Admin  (this == admin)

admin['f'](); // Admin (dot or square brackets access the method – doesn't matter)

The rule is simple: if obj.f() is called, then this is obj during the call of f. So it’s either user or admin in the example above.

Calling without an object: this == undefined

We can even call the function without an object at all:

function sayHi() {
  alert(this);
}

sayHi(); // undefined

In this case this is undefined in strict mode. If we try to access this.name, there will be an error.

In non-strict mode the value of this in such case will be the global object (window in a browser, we’ll get to it later in the chapter Global object). This is a historical behavior that "use strict" fixes.

Usually such call is an programming error. If there’s this inside a function, it expects to be called in an object context.

The consequences of unbound this

If you come from another programming language, then you are probably used to the idea of a "bound this", where methods defined in an object always have this referencing that object.

In JavaScript this is “free”, its value is evaluated at call-time and does not depend on where the method was declared, but rather on what’s the object “before the dot”.

The concept of run-time evaluated this has both pluses and minuses. On the one hand, a function can be reused for different objects. On the other hand, greater flexibility opens a place for mistakes.

Here our position is not to judge whether this language design decision is good or bad. We’ll understand how to work with it, how to get benefits and evade problems.

Internals: Reference Type

In-depth language feature

This section covers an advanced topic, to understand certain edge-cases better.

If you want to go on faster, it can be skipped or postponed.

An intricate method call can lose this, for instance:

let user = {
  name: "John",
  hi() { alert(this.name); },
  bye() { alert("Bye"); }
};

user.hi(); // John (the simple call works)

// now let's call user.hi or user.bye depending on the name
(user.name == "John" ? user.hi : user.bye)(); // Error!

On the last line there is a conditional operator that chooses either user.hi or user.bye. In this case the result is user.hi.

Then the method is immediately called with parentheses (). But it doesn’t work correctly!

As you can see, the call results in an error, because the value of "this" inside the call becomes undefined.

This works (object dot method):

user.hi();

This doesn’t (evaluated method):

(user.name == "John" ? user.hi : user.bye)(); // Error!

Why? If we want to understand why it happens, let’s get under the hood of how obj.method() call works.

Looking closely, we may notice two operations in obj.method() statement:

1. First, the dot '.' retrieves the property obj.method.
2. Then parentheses () execute it.

So, how does the information about this get passed from the first part to the second one?

If we put these operations on separate lines, then this will be lost for sure:

let user = {
  name: "John",
  hi() { alert(this.name); }
}

// split getting and calling the method in two lines
let hi = user.hi;
hi(); // Error, because this is undefined

Here hi = user.hi puts the function into the variable, and then on the last line it is completely standalone, and so there’s no this.

To make user.hi() calls work, JavaScript uses a trick – the dot '.' returns not a function, but a value of the special Reference Type.

The Reference Type is a “specification type”. We can’t explicitly use it, but it is used internally by the language.

The value of Reference Type is a three-value combination (base, name, strict), where:

• base is the object.
• name is the property name.
• strict is true if use strict is in effect.

The result of a property access user.hi is not a function, but a value of Reference Type. For user.hi in strict mode it is:

// Reference Type value
(user, "hi", true)

When parentheses () are called on the Reference Type, they receive the full information about the object and its method, and can set the right this (=user in this case).

Reference type is a special “intermediary” internal type, with the purpose to pass information from dot . to calling parentheses ().

Any other operation like assignment hi = user.hi discards the reference type as a whole, takes the value of user.hi (a function) and passes it on. So any further operation “loses” this.

So, as the result, the value of this is only passed the right way if the function is called directly using a dot obj.method() or square brackets obj['method']() syntax (they do the same here). Later in this tutorial, we will learn various ways to solve this problem such as func.bind().

Arrow functions have no “this”

Arrow functions are special: they don’t have their “own” this. If we reference this from such a function, it’s taken from the outer “normal” function.

For instance, here arrow() uses this from the outer user.sayHi() method:

let user = {
  firstName: "Ilya",
  sayHi() {
    let arrow = () => alert(this.firstName);
    arrow();
  }
};

user.sayHi(); // Ilya

That’s a special feature of arrow functions, it’s useful when we actually do not want to have a separate this, but rather to take it from the outer context. Later in the chapter Arrow functions revisited we’ll go more deeply into arrow functions.

Summary

• Functions that are stored in object properties are called “methods”.
• Methods allow objects to “act” like object.doSomething().
• Methods can reference the object as this.

The value of this is defined at run-time.

• When a function is declared, it may use this, but that this has no value until the function is called.
• A function can be copied between objects.
• When a function is called in the “method” syntax: object.method(), the value of this during the call is object.

Please note that arrow functions are special: they have no this. When this is accessed inside an arrow function, it is taken from outside.