JavaScript Magic Objects

[u/noeldemartin]

https://noeldemartin.com/blog/programming-patterns-magic-objects

I just published a blog post to my website about a pattern I've been using for a while that I think you will find interesting (and probably very divisive!): Magic Objects.

class Parrot extends MagicObject {
    __get(property) {
        return `${property}! ${property}!`;
    }
}

const parrot = new Parrot();

console.log(parrot.foo); // "foo! foo!"
console.log(parrot.bar); // "bar! bar!"

Basically, I'm borrowing the idea of Magic Methods from PHP and porting them to JavaScript. You've probably seen something like this done with proxies before, but I still like to use some OOP in my JavaScript, and I also came up with a way to make it work nicely with TypeScript.

It may seem a bit over the top at the beginning, but I've been using this for a while and I've found it very useful.

Let me know what you think!

[u/smartgenius1]

Magic methods are generally discouraged in the PHP community, and are widely considered a bad decision. Why port them to JS?

[u/noeldemartin → u/smartgenius1]

I have been using Laravel for a long time, and Laravel devs love these magic methods (again, as a sharp knife, not something to abuse). In fact, this is how Laravel's ORM is implemented.

I understand the avoidance of these, though, but magic methods combined with the TypeScript declarations I share in the blog post are a very good combination IMO. Again, it's just a matter of preference I suppose. I knew this was going to be a dividing topic :).

[u/ElectrSheep → u/noeldemartin]

In fact, this is how Laravel's ORM is implemented.

Eloquent is basically the poster child for magic method abuse. I'm all for object-relational mapping. Hell, I'm not even that opposed to active record depending on the use case. However, Laravel's ORM is a particularly bad ORM implementation.

[u/Shogobg → u/ElectrSheep]

I read this as “Object relational mapping hell”. I guess I need a rest.

[u/yeathatsmebro → u/Shogobg]

I read I need a nest. Yeah, I come from the callback hell.

[u/fripletister → u/noeldemartin]

I have been using Laravel for a long time

Ah.