7.1 Singleton
The idea of the singleton pattern is to have only one instance of a specific class. This means that the second time you use the same class to create a new object, you should get the same object that was created the first time.
var obj = { myprop: ‘my value‘ }; var obj2 = { myprop: ‘my value‘ }; obj === obj2; // false obj == obj2; // false
In JavaScript every time you create an object using the object literal, you’re actually creating a singleton, and there’s no special syntax involved.
7.1.1 Using New
when you use new to create several objects using the same constructor, you should get only new pointers to the exact same object.
• You can use a global variable to store the instance. This is not recommended because of the general principle that globals are bad. Plus, anyone can overwrite this global variable, even by accident.
• You can cache in a static property of the constructor. Functions in JavaScript are objects, so they can have properties. You can have something like Universe.instance and cache the object there. This is a nice, clean solution with the only drawback that the instance property is publicly accessible, and code outside of yours might change it, so you lose the instance.
• You can wrap the instance in a closure. This keeps the instance private and not available for modifications outside of your constructor at the expense of an extra closure.
7.1.2 Instance in a Static Property
function Universe() { // do we have an existing instance? if (typeof Universe.instance = = = "object") { return Universe.instance; } // proceed as normal this.start_time = 0; this.bang = "Big"; // cache Universe.instance = this; // implicit return: // return this; } // testing var uni = new Universe(); var uni2 = new Universe(); uni === uni2; // true
Drawback
Instance is public
7.1.3 Instance in a Closure
// 7.1 Strington - Instance in closure function Universe() { // the cached instance var instance = this; // proceed as normal this.start_time = 0; this.bang = "Big"; // rewrite the constructor Universe = function () { return instance; }; }
Drawback
The rewritten function (in this case the constructor Universe()) will lose any properties added to it between the moment of initial definition and the redefinition.
// adding to the prototype Universe.prototype.nothing = true; var uni = new Universe(); // again adding to the prototype after the initial object is created Universe.prototype.everything = true; var uni2 = new Universe(); // only the original prototype was linked to the objects uni.nothing; // true uni2.nothing; // true uni.everything; // undefined uni2.everything; // undefined // that sounds right: uni.constructor.name; // "Universe" // but that‘s odd: uni.constructor === Universe; // false
The reason that uni.constructor is no longer the same as the Universe() constructor is because uni.constructor still points to the original constructor, not the redefined one.
// 7.1 Singleton - Advanced Instance in closure function Universe() { // the cached instance var instance; // rewrite the constructor Universe = function Universe() { return instance; }; // carry over the prototype properties Universe.prototype = this; // this is point to the origin function // the instance instance = new Universe(); // This is initialized by the origin Universe() constructor. instance.constructor = Universe; // Rewrite the constructor of the instance object. // all the functionality instance.start_time = 0; instance.bang = "Big"; return instance; } // update prototype and create instance Universe.prototype.nothing = true; // true var uni = new Universe(); Universe.prototype.everything = true; // true var uni2 = new Universe(); // it‘s the same single instance uni === uni2; // true // all prototype properties work // no matter when they were defined uni.nothing && uni.everything && uni2.nothing && uni2.everything; // true // the normal properties work uni.bang; // "Big" // the constructor points correctly uni.constructor === Universe; // true
Alternative solution
var Universe; (function () { var instance; Universe = function Universe() { if (instance) { return instance; } instance = this; // all the functionality this.start_time = 0; this.bang = "Big"; }; }());
References:
JavaScript Patterns - by Stoyan Stefanov (O`Reilly)