Stampit
Create objects from reusable, composable behaviors
Stampit is a 1.4KB gzipped (or 3K minified) JavaScript module which supports three different kinds of prototypal inheritance (delegation, concatenation, and functional) to let you inherit behavior in a way that is much more powerful and flexible than any other Object Oriented Programming model.
Stamps are standardised composable factory functions. Stampit is a handy implementation of the specification featuring friendly API.
Find many more examples in this series of mini blog posts or on the official website.
Example
import stampit from 'stampit'
const Character = stampit({
props: {
name: null,
health: 100
},
init({ name = this.name }) {
this.name = name
}
})
const Fighter = Character.compose({ // inheriting
props: {
stamina: 100
},
init({ stamina = this.stamina }) {
this.stamina = stamina;
},
methods: {
fight() {
console.log(`${this.name} takes a mighty swing!`)
this.stamina--
}
}
})
const Mage = Character.compose({ // inheriting
props: {
mana: 100
},
init({ mana = this.mana }) {
this.mana = mana;
},
methods: {
cast() {
console.log(`${this.name} casts a fireball!`)
this.mana--
}
}
})
const Paladin = stampit(Mage, Fighter) // as simple as that!
const fighter = Fighter({ name: 'Thumper' })
fighter.fight()
const mage = Mage({ name: 'Zapper' })
mage.cast()
const paladin = Paladin({ name: 'Roland', stamina: 50, mana: 50 })
paladin.fight()
paladin.cast()
console.log(Paladin.compose.properties) // { name: null, health: 100, stamina: 100, mana: 100 }
console.log(Paladin.compose.methods) // { fight: [Function: fight], cast: [Function: cast] }
Status
-
v1.
npm i stampit@1
-
v2.
npm i stampit@2
Breaking changes -
v3.
npm i stampit@3
Breaking changes. Compatible with the stamp specification <= 1.4 -
v4.
npm i stampit
Breaking changes. Compatible with the stamp specification v1.5 -
next.
npm i @stamp/it
The new ecosystem of useful stamps like collision control, etc.
Install
Compatibility
Stampit should run fine in any ES5 browser or any node.js.
API
What's the Point?
Prototypal OO is great, and JavaScript's capabilities give us some really powerful tools to explore it, but it could be easier to use.
Basic questions like "how do I inherit privileged methods and private data?" and "what are some good alternatives to inheritance hierarchies?" are stumpers for many JavaScript users.
Let's answer both of these questions at the same time.
// Some privileged methods with some private data.
const Availability = stampit({
init() {
let isOpen = false; // private
this.open = function open() {
isOpen = true;
return this;
};
this.close = function close() {
isOpen = false;
return this;
};
this.isOpen = function isOpenMethod() {
return isOpen;
}
}
});
// Here's a stamp with public methods, and some state:
const Membership = stampit({
props: {
members: {}
},
methods: {
add(member) {
this.members[member.name] = member;
return this;
},
getMember(name) {
return this.members[name];
}
}
});
// Let's set some defaults:
const Defaults = stampit({
props: {
name: "The Saloon",
specials: "Whisky, Gin, Tequila"
},
init({ name, specials }) {
this.name = name || this.name;
this.specials = specials || this.specials;
}
});
// Classical inheritance has nothing on this.
// No parent/child coupling. No deep inheritance hierarchies.
// Just good, clean code reusability.
const Bar = stampit(Defaults, Availability, Membership);
// Create an object instance
const myBar = Bar({ name: "Moe's" });
// Silly, but proves that everything is as it should be.
myBar.add({ name: "Homer" }).open().getMember("Homer");
For more examples see the API or the Fun With Stamps mini-blog series.
Development
Unit tests
npm t
Unit and benchmark tests
env CI=1 npm t
Unit tests in a browser
To run unit tests in a default browser:
npm run browsertest
To run tests in a different browser:
- Open the
./test/index.html
in your browser, and - open developer's console. The logs should indicate success.
Publishing to NPM registry
npx cut-release
It will run the cut-release
utility which would ask you if you're publishing patch, minor, or major version. Then it will execute npm version
, git push
and npm publish
with proper arguments for you.