Question

73

Should I use window.variable or var?

rated 0 times [ 76] [ 3] / answers: 1 / hits: 44146 / 13 Years ago, mon, august 1, 2011, 12:00:00

We have a lot of setup JS code that defines panels, buttons, etc that will be used in many other JS files.

Typically, we do something like:

grid.js

var myGrid = .....

combos.js

var myCombo = .....

Then, in our application code, we:

application.js

function blah() {

    myGrid.someMethod()

}

someother.js

function foo() {

    myCombo.someMethod();

    myGrid.someMethod();

}

So, should we be using the var myGrid or is better to use window.myGrid

What's the difference?

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billt

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4 Years ago

answered 13 Years ago longd · Accepted Answer

I would suggest creating a namespace variable var App = {};

App.myGrid = ...

That way you can limit the pollution of the global namespace.

EDIT: Regarding the number of variables issue - 2 possible solutions come to mind:

You can further namespace them by type(Grids, Buttons, etc) or by relationship(ClientInfoSection, AddressSection, etc)

You encapsulate your methods in objects that get instantiated with the components you have

ex: you have

function foo() {

    myCombo.someMethod();

    myGrid.someMethod();

}

becomes:

var Foo = function(combo, grid) {

    var myCombo = combo;//will be a private property

    this.myGrid = grid;//will be a public property

    this.foo = function() {//public method

        myCombo.someMethod();

        myGrid.someMethod();

    }

}

App.myFoo = new Foo(someCombo, someGrid);

App.myFoo.foo();

this way you limit the amount of little objects and only expose what you need (namely the foo function)

PS: if you need to expose the internal components then add them to this inside the constructor function