Namespaces in Javascript

[Christoph Hart]

Oops, my bad, I am talking about the upcoming 646 (I'll upload it in the next days)

[d.healey]

I thought so but wanted to check before I re-downloaded the current build

[Christoph Hart]

Alright, Build 646 is online.

[d.healey]

That was quick :D

[d.healey]

Can this be used within a namespace to refer to its own functions?

[Christoph Hart]

Nope, this is reserved for object properties.

[d.healey]

What about creating another keyword like self?

[Christoph Hart]

Adding Python to the melting pot, I like it :)

Why do you need this? I would indeed prefer adding a new keyword like self, but I can't see any advantage yet.

[Christoph Hart]

If we're at it, what do you think about a private keyword?

namespace MyEncapsulatedStuff
{
    private var internals = "Hidden";

    inline function getHiddenProperty()
    {
        return self.internals; // :)
    };
};

Console.print(MyEncapsulatedStuff.internals); // undefined
Console.print(MyEncapsulatedStuff.getHiddenProperty()); // "Hidden"

It would solve the problem of the weird Javascript encapsulation tactics.

[d.healey]

A self keyword will be helpful for example when I have functions within a namespace that refer to each other and to private namespaced variables. Rather than writing out the namespace's name I could just put self and if I decide to change the namespace name I won't need to adjust the function and variable references within the namespace. The private keyword is a good idea :)

[Christoph Hart]

You could also skip the namespace. and write the variable name without prefix. This will work even if there are global variables with the same name.