classy-js

Classy

A simply demure class library.

All Composition: All Class.

Author: Jordan Timmerman (@skorlir)

Built at the Northwestern University WCAS Multimedia Learning Center

What is this and Why

Classy is a crazy experiment in just how far you can go, and just how little you really need, to create useful, versatile, extensible class objects in Javascript.

This is the premise:

You don't need prototypes. You don't need class. You don't need super or extend. With a small set of powerful functions for composing simple data structures, you can build anything.

It's a no-class class system. It's simple. It's Classy.

Features

Classy is a composeable class constructor constructor. Anyplace you might imagine yourself using function and prototypes, you can use ClassyClasses instead.

• ClassyClasses are objects (using Object.create(null))
• Everything is defined with composition
• Every feature is a plugin, defined as a composeable function
• There's no contextual this (powered by Selfish)
• The syntax is so simple your cat could sit on your keyboard and use it by accident

  var aClass = Classy(function (self) {
      self.field = 'value'
      self.method = function () {}
      // return is implied
  })

Usage

Show me some code

var TrivialClass = Classy(function () {})
 
TrivialClass()

Is the simplest possible Classy Class.

This will return an Object ({}) that has absolutely no fields or methods, and no prototype.

Adding Features

Composition is first-class in Classy, and everything that Classy does is an application of composition.

Check it out:

// A couple of features we want to mix in
var IsInstance = require('classy-js/core/is-instance')
  , ToString   = require('classy-js/core/to-string')
  , Compose    = require('classy-js/core/compose')
 
var Classy = require('classy-js')
 
// We want all our ClassyClasses to have `isInstance`, so let's create
//  a "class medium" for creating ClassyClasses that have it.
var Medium = Classy().use(IsInstance)
 
// Now we can `define` classes from that Medium
var Animal = Medium.define(function (animal, type) {
  animal.type = type
})
 
// Equivalently, we could have done:
var Animal = Classy()
  .use(IsInstance)
  .define(function (animal, type) {
    animal.type = type
  })
 
// But using a Medium makes things a bit cleaner.
 
// Let's use that Animal class.
var Dog = Medium
  .use(ToString) // You can add another feature to the medium just for Dog
  .define(function (dog, name) {
    dog.name = name
  })
  .use(Compose(Animal, 'Dog'))
 
// So now Dog is "composed with" Animal.
// Let's add in some Dog actions.
 
// Dogs can bark
function Bark (dog) {
  dog.bark = function () {
    return dog.name + ' is barking! Woof! Woof!'
  }
}
 
// They can wag their tails
function WagTail (dog) {
  dog.wagTail = function () {
    return dog.name + ' is wagging his tail!'
  }
}
 
// Okay, let's compose those into Dog
Dog = Dog.use([ Bark, WagTail, ToString ])
// Notice that we can also add ToString to Dog here
// We added ToString to the Dog _class_, and now we're adding it to
//   every Dog _instance_.
 
// Let's play around with our new ClassyClasses!
 
Dog.toString()
// => Dog { toString: fn, isInstance: fn, constructor: function (dog...) {...} }
 
var fido = Dog('Fido')
// => { name: 'Fido', type: 'Dog', bark: fn, wagTail: fn, toString: fn }
 
fido.bark()     // => 'Fido is barking! Woof! Woof!'
fido.wagTail()  // => 'Fido is wagging his tail!'
fido.type       // => 'Dog'
fido.toString()
// => { name: 'Fido', type: 'Dog', bark: fn, wagTail: fn, toString: fn }
 
// We can check instances, too:
Animal.isInstance(fido) // true
Dog.isInstance(fido)    // true
Dog.isInstance(extend({}, fido, { type: 'Cat' }))    // false
Animal.isInstance(extend({}, fido, { type: 'Cat' })) // true
 

Bare by Default

Because ClassyClasses use Object.create(null) as their basis, classes are entirely bare by default - this is why every feature is a plugin, and why ClassyClasses have no prototypes or this.

Here's an explicit, albeit contrived, example:

var Truth = Classy(function (self) {
 self.life = 42
})
 
var theTruth = Truth()
// => { life: 42 }
 
theTruth.prototype
// => undefined
 
Object.getPrototypeOf(theTruth)
// => null
 
for (var fact in theTruth) {
 console.log('The Truth is ', fact, '=', theTruth[fact])
}
// [logged]: The Truth is life = 42
 
[ 'toString', 'valueOf', 'isPrototypeOf', 'hasOwnProperty' ].map(function (junk) {
 if (theTruth[junk]) return junk
})
// => []