Javascript dict vs {} - dictionary

When using a {} as follows:
var m = {};
Then m is an Object that does not possess the methods of a Dict. You can see by pasting into jsfiddle
var m = {};
m['a'] = 'x';
alert(m.keys());
This will not run - since keys() is not a method on the given object. So then - how to get a dictionary with all its methods?
Update From #SLaks suggestion: Changing the original line to
var m = new Map();
does the trick

There is no such thing as a dictionary in Javascript.
You can use a regular object as a dictionary, as you're doing, and use methods like Object.keys() to help you.
If you use ES6 (or a polyfill), you can use the Map class, which is a normal class with get() and set() methods.

{} is an "object literal". It has no methods or properties other than what's part of the object prototype (a limited set of functions, such as toString, hasOwnProperty, etc), and what you define on it. It is otherwise empty and does not expose functionality you'd expect on a Dictionary. That's where Object comes in.
The static Object reference has an API on it that you can provide your objects to and effectively exposes a set of functions that can be performed on your object as if they were default methods a "dictionary" might expose.
var m = {};
m.a = 'x';
Object.keys(m) // => ['a']
You can find more methods that Object supports on MDN, https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object

There is no "Dictionary", but an object in JavaScript can be used in a very similar way to a Map in Java.
var myObject = {}
...
for (var key in myObject) {
if (myObject.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
var value = myObject[key];
}
}
The hasOwnProperty() check is to avoid finding keys higher up JavaScripts prototype chain.

Related

using export in alloy controller versus attaching functions directly to the '$' scope

here is the code of an alloy controller written in two different ways. Although the both work the same, Which one might be best practice?
example 1 of controller.js:
var currentState = true;
$.getState = function(){
return currentState;
}
example 2 of controller.js:
var currentState = true;
exports.getState = function(){
return currentState;
}
Titanium is based on the CommonJS framework. The exports variable is a special variable used typically to expose a public API in a class object. So when you want to expose a method of doSomething() on the MyModule.js class you would use the exports variable like this:
exports.doSomething() = function(args) {
//Some really cool method here
};
Then reference that class using
var myModule = require('MyModule');
myModule.doSomething();
However when referencing a view object the typical way to reference the is using the $. shortcut. You can see they prefer that method in the official documentation.
http://docs.appcelerator.com/platform/latest/#!/guide/Alloy_XML_Markup
The $ variable holds a reference to your controller instance. It also contains some references to all indexed views (understand, views for which you supplied an index in you xml markup).
Both ways are strictly equivalent as, during the compilation, Alloy will merge the content of the exports with your controller referenced in $. Adding them directly to the instance won't change a thing.
Neverthless, developers are used to see the public API as the set of functions exported via the special variable exports; Thus, I will recommend to keep using it in a clean and clear way (for instance, defining your functions in your module scope, and only expose them at the end or beginning of your controller).
function myFunction1 () { }
function myFunction2 () { }
function myFunction3 () { }
exports.myFunction1 = myFunction1;
exports.myFunction3 = myFunction3;
Thereby, your API is quite clear for people diving into your source code. (A readMe file is also highly recommended :) ).

Observing changes to ES6 Maps and Sets

Is there any way to observe additions to and removals from ES6 Maps and Sets? Object.observe doesn't work because it is only applies to direct properties of the observed object. Hypothetically the size property could be observed, but no indication would be provided of exactly what has changed. Another idea would be to replace the object's set and get functions with proxified versions. Is there a better way? If not, I'm surprised that nobody thought of this when the proposals were being written for ES6.
No, there is no way to do this with a vanilla Map/Set. In general observation of object properties alone is controversial (that is why Object.observe is only a proposal, and not an accepted part of the spec). Observing private state, like the internals of a Map or Set (or Date or Promise, for that matter), is definitely not on the table.
Note also that since size is a getter, not a data property, Object.observe will not notify you of changes to it.
As you mention, you can achieve such "observation" via collaboration between the mutator and the observer. You could either do this with a normal Map/Set plus a side-channel (e.g. a function returning a { Map, EventEmitter } object), or via a subclass tailored for the purpose, or a specific instance created for that purpose.
Subclassing for Set/Map is not working at the moment. How about this method (just hasty example)?
//ECMAScript 2015
class XMap
{
constructor(iterable, observer = null)
{
this._map = new Map(iterable);
this._observer = observer;
this._changes = {};
}
set(key, value)
{
this._changes.prev = this._map.get(key);
this._changes.new = value;
this._map.set(key, value);
if(this._observer !== null)
{
this._observer(this._changes);
}
}
get(key)
{
return this._map.get(key);
}
}
var m = new XMap([[0, 1]], changes => console.log(changes));
m.set(0,5); // console: Object {prev: 1, new: 5}
m.set(0,15); // console: Object {prev: 5, new: 15}

Ienumerable of T, T is only available at runtime

I have a method with this signature
public IEnumerable<T> GetAll<T>() where T : new()
{
// Orm Lite Version
return Connection.LoadSelect<T>();
}
At compile time I don't know the Type T. I only know the class name at runtime is it possible to call this method using reflection with something like this?
string TargetTBLName = ...;//TargetTBLName get's it's value at runtime
Type ParentTableClass = Type.GetType(TargetTBLName);
IEnumerable<Type.GetType(TargetTBLName)> test = Repository.GetAll<Type.GetType(TargetTBLName)>();
Any Ideas?
I'd give a Dynamitey library a go. You can do that in many different ways, but I prefer this one because of its simplicity. You can find it here.
var name = InvokeMemberName.Create;
var test = Dynamic.InvokeMember(Repository, name("GetAll", new[]{ParentTableClass }));
foreach(var obj in test)
{
obj.SomeMethodFromMyType();
}
Keep in mind, that if Repository is static, than you have to tweak it a bit to use static invocation context (look up the link).
Now you have a test object, which is a dynamic - you can use it with duck typing (which has some implications on speed, for example), but in general you can do whatever you want to do with a normal IEnumerable<YourType>.
If you want to use reflection:
MethodInfo getAll= typeof(Repository).GetMethod("GetAll");
MethodInfo getAllGeneric= getAll.MakeGenericMethod(ParentTableClass);
object result = getAllGeneric.Invoke(this, null);
//or null, null is Repository is static
var finalObject = result as IEnumerable;
Mind that since this ParentTableClass is an unknown during compilation, you won't have access to anything that the actual type provides - unless you use dynamic approach.

How to set an empty Object's properties programatically?

I'm doing some Actionscript work right now and I'd like to know whether there's a way to initiate an empty object's value programatically like this:
var myObj:Object = new Object;
myObj.add("aKey","aValue");
To add a property called aKey whose value is aValue
I need to create a "Dumb" (data-only) object to use as a parameter to send via POST. So I don't know offhand how long and/or how many attributes it's gonna have.
Or something like that.
Thanks
ActionScript 3 allows you to create new Objects using an expressive Object Literal syntax similar to the one found in JavaScript:
const myObj : Object = {
aKey: "aValue",
};
trace(myObj.aKey); // "aValue"
If you want to assign properties after the object has been constructed then you can use either dot notation or square bracket notation, eg:
const myObj : Object = {}; // create an empty object.
myObj.aKey = "aValue";
myObj["anotherKey"] = "anotherValue";
If you plan on sending the data over HTTP, you may wish to consider looking at the URLVariables class which will take care of URL encoding the data for you.

Passing in variables ByRef in Actionscript 3

Is it possible to pass a parameter to a method ByRef (or out etc) in ActionScript 3?
I have some globally scoped variables at the top of my class and my method will populate that variable if it's == null.
I'm passing in the variable which needs to be populated but so far my efforts have returned a locally populated variable leaving the globally scoped version of it still null.
The variable being passed to my method varies so I can't hardcode it in my method and simply set it.
ActionScript 3 passes params by reference by default, like Java - except for primitive types. But what you are trying to have it do isn't passing by reference. The parameter passed in is a reference to an object(in the case when it's not a primitive type), which you may well modify inside of the function.
But, to answer your question. Here is a solution:
function populateIfNull(variableName, value){
this[variableName] = this[variableName] || value
}
Which you can use like:
populateIfNull('name', 'Bob')
populateIfNull('age', 20)
AS3 does not have pass by reference (it is similar to Java in this regard, in that it passes references by value).
Something similar can be simulated if you control the client code by wrapping the object in another object:
var myObj = null;
myFun({ a: myObj });
function (param) {
if (param.a == null) {
param.a = "Hello";
}
}
Use objects.
eg:
var myObj : Object = new Object();
var myArr : Array;
myObj.arr = myArr;
function populateViaRef(obj : Object) : void {
obj.arr = new Array();
for(var i : Number = 0; i < 10; i++)
obj.arr[i] = i;
}
populateViaRef(myObj);
for(var i : Number = 0; i < 10; i++)
trace(myObj.arr[i]);
In ActionScript 3.0, all arguments are passed by reference, because all values are stored as objects. However, objects that belong to the primitive data types, which includes Boolean, Number, int, uint, and String, have special operators that make them behave as if they were passed by value.
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ActionScript/3.0_ProgrammingAS3/WS5b3ccc516d4fbf351e63e3d118a9b90204-7f56.html
In Java arguments are passed by value.
http://javadude.com/articles/passbyvalue.htm

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