JavaScript: The Good Parts

Parts

We can compose objects out of sets of parts. For example, we can make a function that can add simple event processing features to any object. It adds an on method, a fire method, and a private event registry:

var eventuality = function (that) { var registry = {}; that.fire = function (event) { // Fire an event on an object. The event can be either // a string containing the name of the event or an // object containing a type property containing the // name of the event. Handlers registered by the 'on' // method that match the event name will be invoked. var array, func, handler, i, type = typeof event === 'string' ? event : event.type; // If an array of handlers exist for this event, then // loop through it and execute the handlers in order. if (registry.hasOwnProperty(type)) { array = registry[type]; for (i = 0; i < array.length; i += 1) { handler = array[i]; // A handler record contains a method and an optional // array of parameters. If the method is a name, look // up the function. func = handler.method; if (typeof func === 'string') { func = this[func]; } // Invoke a handler. If the record contained // parameters, then pass them. Otherwise, pass the // event object. func.apply(this, handler.parameters || [event]); } } return this; }; that.on = function (type, method, parameters) { // Register an event. Make a handler record. Put it // in a handler array, making one if it doesn't yet // exist for this type. var handler = { method: method, parameters: parameters }; if (registry.hasOwnProperty(type)) ...