inheritance-es5

Inheritance in JavaScript (ES5)

What is this library objective?

Inheritance in ES5, is quite obvious, isn't it?

• Inheritance of methods.
• Inheritance of properties.
• Use of instanceof (prototype chain).
• Call super methods (__super__).
• Allow method overwriting.
• Allow property overwriting.

How to use inheritance-es5

1. Write your javascript modules as usual.

   /**
   * Feel like a god creating animals
   * @param {Object} options
   * @constructor
   * @class
   */
   function Animal(options) {
       var opts = options || {};
       this._name = opts.name;
   }
      
   Animal.prototype = {
       eat: function() {
           return (this.name || this.type) + ' is eating';
       }
   };
      
   /**
   * Brings a new kitten to the world
   * @param options
   * @constructor
   * @class
   */
   function Cat(options) {
       var opts = options || {
               isSphynx: false
           };
       this.isSphynx = typeof opts.isSphynx === 'boolean' && opts.isSphynx;
   }
      
   Cat.prototype = {
       hasFur: function() {
           return !this.isSphynx;
       }
   };

2. Apply inheritance after definition.

   inheritance(Cat, Animal); // or Cat = inheritance(Cat, Animal);

3. Call super constructor (if needed)

   function Cat(options) {
       var opts = options || {
               isSphynx: false
           };
       this.isSphynx = typeof opts.isSphynx === 'boolean' && opts.isSphynx;
       Cat.__super__(this, [opts]); // super_constructor(opts)
   }

4. Done! Easy, huh?

   var haku = new Cat({name: 'Haku'});
   haku.eat(); // Haku is eating!

TODOs

• Readable test suite.
• If a property is not configurable, then it can not be overwritten.