Mike West has put some time into analyzing and understanding one of the more sticky issues in Javascript: scope.
Scope is one of the foundational aspects of the JavaScript language, and probably the one I’ve struggled with the most when building complex programs. I can’t count the number of times I’ve lost track of what the this keyword refers to after passing control around from function to function, and I’ve often found myself contorting my code in all sorts of confusing ways, trying to retain some semblance of sanity in my understanding of which variables were accessible where.
He has published his explorations as an article in Digital Web Magazine. In it he deals with the basics of scope; the this keyword in method calls, constructors, function calls and event handlers; the apply() and call() methods; and Prototype’s bind() extension to Function.
The article is illustrated throughout with code examples and includes a list of useful references at the end. A good addition to the family of online Javascript resources.
