Added getters/setters draft
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src/drafts/getters-and-setters-in-javascript.md
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src/drafts/getters-and-setters-in-javascript.md
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---
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layout: post.html
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title: "Getters and Setters in JavaScript"
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date: 2018-01-27
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tags: JavaScript
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summary: "I was recently asked by [Ruth](https://twitter.com/rumyra) to explain what the purpose of getters and setters are in JavaScript and how to use them. This led to me somewhat ramble about all I know on the subject in the [JSOxford](https://jsoxford.com) channel of the [Digital Oxford Slack](http://slack.digitaloxford.com/). People seemed to find what I said useful so I thought it best to write a more coherent version."
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---
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I was recently asked by [Ruth](https://twitter.com/rumyra) to explain what the purpose of getters and setters are in JavaScript and how to use them. This led to me somewhat ramble about all I know on the subject in the [JSOxford](https://jsoxford.com) channel of the [Digital Oxford Slack](http://slack.digitaloxford.com/). People seemed to find what I said useful so I thought it best to write a more coherent version.
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## What are they?
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The simplest way I like to think about them is as a way to create dynamic values that look like normal properties to those using them. I think the best way to explain them is with an example.
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```js
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class Person {
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constructor(firstName, lastName) {
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this.firstName = firstName;
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this.lastName = lastName;
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}
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get fullName() {
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return this.firstName + ' ' + this.lastName;
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}
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}
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const ruth = new Person('Ruth', 'John');
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console.log(ruth.fullName); // "Ruth John"
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```
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Here we have a Person class that takes in a first and last name when instantiating and we have a getter that dynamically returns the full name when called. Notice we're not calling `fullName` as a function, it just looks like any other property to those interacting with the object.
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As we only have a getter specified for `fullName` we can't set anything to it.
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```js
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console.log(ruth.fullName); // "Ruth John"
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ruth.fullName = "Someone Else";
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console.log(ruth.fullName); // Still "Ruth John"
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```
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Setters work in a very similar way. They take in a single value and do something with it.
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```js
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set fullName(val) {
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const names = val.split(' ');
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this.firstName = names[0];
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this.lastName = names[1];
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}
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...
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ruth.fullName = "Someone Else";
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console.log(ruth.firstName); // "Someone"
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console.log(ruth.lastName); // "Else"
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```
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## But why?
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So you might be looking at this and wondering "why not just use a function"?
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There's a couple of reasons I think they are useful. First they give the consumer of the object a single way to interact with data, it doesn't need to know the different between static values and calculated values. The second reason is the ability to set a getter as being enumerable (more on this below) which would mean it would be included when doing things like `JSON.stringify` so you can have a string representation of a calculated value that you can then persist or send over the wire.
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> Note: Using the `get` and `set` keywords are just syntactical sugar that provides some default properties. See below about how to have more control over the properties you define.
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One very useful usecase for setters is when you have an existing object with a well used interface, let's say something that takes a width, and it's decided at a later date that some validation is wanted on this field. Rather than having to introduce a breaking change you can use a setter and implement the validation there, rather than having to have all clients update the way they interact with your object.
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```js
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class Shape {
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constructor() {
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this.width = 0;
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}
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}
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const box = new Shape();
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box.width = 100; // OK
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box.width = 'Cake'; // Also OK
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// Now we want to add validation
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class Shape {
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constructor() {
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this.width = 0;
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}
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set width(val) {
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if (typeof val !== 'number') {
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throw new Error('Must be a number');
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}
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this._width = val;
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}
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}
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const box = new Shape();
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box.width = 100; // OK
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box.width = 'Cake'; // Throws
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```
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> Note: I am using `this._width` here to indicate a "private" property. In reality JavaScript doesn't have this ability so is more just a convention.
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## Having more control
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You can get more control when using `Object.defineProperty` rather than the `get` or `set` keyword. This allows you to specify things like whether the property is enumerable or not (useful for `JSON.stringify` as mentioned above).
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```js
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class Person {
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constructor(firstName, lastName) {
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this.firstName = firstName;
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this.lastName = lastName;
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Object.defineProperty(this, 'fullName', {
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enumerable: true,
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get: function() {
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return this.firstName + ' ' + this.lastName;
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}
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});
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}
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}
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const ruth = new Person('Ruth', 'John');
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console.log(JSON.stringify(ruth)); // "{\"firstName\":\"Ruth\",\"lastName\":\"John\",\"fullName\":\"Ruth John\"}"
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```
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Note that `fullName` is now stringified thanks to it being marked as `enumerable`.
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> One thing to be careful of here is if you have an object with an enumerable getter but no setter (as we have here) and you try and do `Object.assign(new Person, JSON.parse(stringifiedRuthObject))` you will get an error:
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>
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> TypeError: Cannot set property fullName of #\<Person\> which has only a getter
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`Object.defineProperty` can do more than just getters and setters too. It also has the ability to create read only properties.
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```js
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class Person {
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constructor(firstName, lastName) {
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this.firstName = firstName;
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this.lastName = lastName;
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Object.defineProperty(this, 'isAwesome', {
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value: true // note we don't specify `writable` which defaults to false
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});
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}
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}
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const ruth = new Person('Ruth', 'John');
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console.log(ruth.isAwesome); // true
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ruth.isAwesome = false;
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console.log(ruth.isAwesome); // Still true!
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```
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## Can I use it?
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Throughout this post I've only used classes to demonstrate the usage of getters and setters but it's not needed, you can use `Object.defineProperty` on normal objects too and is supported all the way back to **IE9**.
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```
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function Person(firstName, lastName) {
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this.firstName = firstName;
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this.lastName = lastName;
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Object.defineProperty(this, 'fullName', {
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get: function() {
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return this.firstName + ' ' + this.lastName;
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}
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});
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}
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var ruth = new Person('Ruth', 'John');
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console.log(ruth.fullName); // "Ruth John"
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```
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## Related
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It's also been possible to do similar in other ways. The now deprecated `Object.observe` could do similar to an instantiated object and the more recent introduction of `Proxy` that allows you to wrap an instantiated object and intercept actions performed on it. But those are best left for another day.
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It's worth checkout out the MDN documentation for [Object.defineProperty](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object/defineProperty) to see all the configuration available.
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