Mastering Modular JavaScript

Chapter 1. Module Thinking

As discussed in the Preface, complexity seems to be all around us while we’re working on software projects. So are abstractions, which keep complexity hidden away from us under rocks we don’t dare touch. These rocks are our interfaces to the rest of the world so that we can get away with hardly thinking about it. JavaScript is no exception here. On the contrary, as powerful as dynamic languages are, it is also that much easier, and even tempting, to write complex programs when we’re using them.

To get started, let’s discuss how we can better apply abstractions, interfaces, and their underlying concepts to the work we do. We then can minimize the amount of complexity we need to stare at when working on a project, a feature, a piece of functionality, down to the branches of a single function.

1.1 Introduction to Module Thinking

Embracing module thinking is understanding that complexity is, ultimately, inescapable. At the same time, that complexity can be swept under an interface, hardly to ever be seen or thought of again. But—and here’s one of the tricky parts—the interface needs to be well-designed so that its users don’t become frustrated. That frustration could even lead us to peering under the hood and finding that the implementation is vastly more complex than the poor interface we’re frustrated by, and maybe if the interface didn’t exist in the first place, we’d be better off in terms of maintainability and readability.

Systems can be organized ...