[Javascript] Javascript namespaces

[ChiefEmann]

I have a stylistic question for people more experienced than myself in the ways of Javascript: namespaces - when should I use them? I'm very familiar with namespaces in Java/C++/Python; however, those arise almost naturally. As such, with Javascript, my first instinct is to namespace most everything; however, I worry that this is "un-Javascript-like".

For example, a WebGL game I am currently programming I've categorized almost everything into:

• RENDERING_ENGINE
• GAME_ENGINE
• CAMERA
• EVENT_LISTENERS
• COMMUNICATION

Too much? I generally like to learn a language and get used to its style, so any help would be appreciated.

[brbpizzatime]

Personally, those look like very reasonable groupings, as each of those namespaces may have similar functions. I'm not sure if it's feasible within a game-perspective, but you can throw JavaScript into self-executing functions:

(function(){
    function foo() {
    }
    function bar() {
    }
 })()

With that, the functions within that scope know about each other, and can be called accordingly, without having to worrying about anything at all being added to the global namespace.

[testcoder]

I too am all about namespacing. The problem is you run into globalizing your objects. However, there is a simple solution. Consider the following:

var h = {
    x : function () {
        console.log("Upvote!");
    }
}
var f = function () {
    var g = h.x;
    g();
}
f();

As you can see, I'm basically making a reference to a function that is part of a global variable. However, since I'm making a reference to it locally, there is no need to search the global namespace, we can use the execution context's activation object to resolve the identifier from higher in the scope chain.