JS.Class - Ruby-like classes for JavaScript

Static/class methods

Static methods (also known as class methods) are methods that you call on classes themselves, rather than their instances. To add static methods to your class, wrap them up in an extend block:

        var User = new JS.Class({
          extend: {
            find: function(id) {
              // Return a User with id
            },
            create: function(name) {
              return new this(name);
            }
          },
          initialize: function(name) {
            this.username = name;
          }
        });

Note that extend (as defined above) will not become an instance method of the class. Within static methods, this refers to the class itself – see the create() method.

        var james = User.create('James');
        james.username    // -> 'James'
        james.klass       // -> User

When you create a subclass, it will inherit any static methods of its parent, and you can use callSuper() too:

        var LoudUser = new JS.Class(User, {
          extend: {
            create: function(name) {
              return this.callSuper(name.toUpperCase());
            }
          }
        });
        
        var me = LoudUser.create('James');
        me.username   // -> 'JAMES'
        me.klass      // -> LoudUser
        
        var you = LoudUser.find(24)   // inherited from User

Note how this, even in callSuper methods, always refers to the same thing as in the original method call. We get back a LoudUser, not a User.

JS.Class Ruby-like classes for JavaScript

Static/class methods