jQuery namespace

jQuery encourages using namespaces for methods in the $ namespace, like $.foo.bar() rather than $.bar(). This works for $ because methods don't expect this to refer to anything specific, and the way javascript works is to assign this to the last-named object, so in $.foo.bar(), this refers to $.foo.

This idea fails for plugins, however, since plugins expect this to refer to the jQuery object that started the chain. If I define $.fn.bar = function(){}, then when $(...).bar() is called, this refers to $(...), just as we want. But if I define $.fn.foo.bar = function(){}, then when $(...).foo.bar() is called, this refers to $(...).foo, which is an object that knows nothing about jQuery. There's no way to make an object reference return something else.

But all is not lost. We can define a function that returns an object, and that function can use this to set the returned object to be just like a jQuery object, but with the desired namespaced methods in it. The inefficient way to do that is to copy the new methods into the jQuery object, but if we can manipulate the prototype chain directly (as we can in Firefox) we can add our new methods to the chain without copying.

So a namespacing plugin would be:

[javascript] view plaincopyprint?(function ($) {
if({}.__proto__) {
// mozilla & webkit expose the prototype chain directly
$.namespace=function (name) {
$.fn[name]=function namespace() {
// insert this function in the prototype chain
this.__proto__=arguments.callee;
return this;
};
$.fn[name].__proto__=$.fn;
};
$.fn.$=function () {
this.__proto__=$.fn;
return this;
};
}
else {
// every other browser; need to copy methods
$.namespace=function (name) {
$.fn[name]=function namespace() {
return this.extend(arguments.callee);
};
};
$.fn.$=function () {
// slow but restores the default namespace
var len=this.length;
this.extend($.fn);
this.length=len;
// $.fn has length = 0, which messes everything up
return this;
};
}
})(jQuery);
(function ($) {
if({}.__proto__) {
// mozilla & webkit expose the prototype chain directly
$.namespace=function (name) {
$.fn[name]=function namespace() {
// insert this function in the prototype chain
this.__proto__=arguments.callee;
return this;
};
$.fn[name].__proto__=$.fn;
};
$.fn.$=function () {
this.__proto__=$.fn;
return this;
};
}
else {
// every other browser; need to copy methods
$.namespace=function (name) {
$.fn[name]=function namespace() {
return this.extend(arguments.callee);
};
};
$.fn.$=function () {
// slow but restores the default namespace
var len=this.length;
this.extend($.fn);
this.length=len;
// $.fn has length = 0, which messes everything up
return this;
};
}
})(jQuery);

And you could use it like:

[javascript] view plaincopyprint?$.namespace('danny');
$.namespace('danny2');
$.fn.danny.foo=function () {
return this.css('color','green')
};
$.fn.danny2.foo=function (x) {
alert(x);
return this;
};
// now we have two different methods "foo"
$('p').danny().foo();
// colors paragraphs green
$('p').danny2().foo('Hello, world');
// alerts 'Hello, world'
$('p').danny().foo().danny2().foo('Hello, world');
// chaining works
$.fn.danny.add=function (a,b) {
alert(a+b);
return this;
};
// defines a function with the same name as a real jQuery one
$('p').danny().add(1,2).$().add('div');
// the $() plugin restores the real jQuery namespace to a chain
$.namespace('danny');
$.namespace('danny2');
$.fn.danny.foo=function () {
return this.css('color','green')
};
$.fn.danny2.foo=function (x) {
alert(x);
return this;
};
// now we have two different methods "foo"
$('p').danny().foo();
// colors paragraphs green
$('p').danny2().foo('Hello, world');
// alerts 'Hello, world'
$('p').danny().foo().danny2().foo('Hello, world');
// chaining works
$.fn.danny.add=function (a,b) {
alert(a+b);
return this;
};
// defines a function with the same name as a real jQuery one
$('p').danny().add(1,2).$().add('div');
// the $() plugin restores the real jQuery namespace to a chain

The namespacing is per-chain only; $('p').danny() does not affect any subsequent statements. Plugins that call pushStack will reset the namespacing, but in general the namespace function should be called right before the method, so that should not be an issue.

This is inefficient, obviously, adding an extra function call and possible a lot of copying with extend, but for most code that is insignificant.