Introduction

If you're a Java programmer coming to Dojo with little or no experience of JavaScript, chances are you're going to struggle with some of the concepts that enable it to work. The main concerns with Dojo are that — at the time of writing — it is still in its infancy (version 1.0 was only released in February 2008) and the documentation available is still somewhat limited. This article helps you bridge the gap from Java code to Dojo so that you can get up to speed quickly and use the toolkit when developing your applications.

This article does not describe how to obtain the Dojo toolkit or the necessary statements needed to use it, because there are many other resources available that provide that information. The article is written for Web developers who are coming to Dojo from a servlet development background.

The JavaScript hash

One of the first challenges is to understand the syntax that is used when invoking Dojo functions, in particular the use of the "hash" or JavaScript object. A hash is expressed as a set of attributes delimited by commas between curly braces. A simple example is shown in Listing 1, declaring a hash consisting of 6 attributes: a string, an integer, a boolean, an undefined attribute, another hash, and a function.

				
var myHash = {
    str_attr : "foo",
    int_attr : 7,
    bool_attr : true,
    undefined_attr : null,
    hash_attr : {},
    func_attr : function() {}
};			
                

It is important to remember that JavaScript is weakly typed, so although each attribute has been initialized to a value linked to its name, there is no reason why the initial str_attr attribute cannot be subsequently set to an integer or boolean (or any other type for that matter). Each attribute in the hash can be accessed or set using the dot operator (as shown in Listing 2).

				
// Accessing a hash attribute...
console.log(myHash.str_attr);

// Setting a hash attribute...
myHash.str_attr = "bar";
                

The first four attributes of myHash should be self-explanatory. The fact that a hash can have attributes that are also hashes should be no surprise. (This can be thought of as analogous to Java classes referencing both primitives and objects.) It is the final attribute that is most important to understand.

Functions are objects

Although in Java code there is a java.reflection.Method class, it essentially acts as wrapper to a method. In JavaScript the function is an object like any other that can be set, referenced, and passed as an argument to other functions. Often it is necessary to declare new functions in function calls in much the same way as an anonymous inner class can be declared in a Java method call.

Another important difference between Java methods and JavaScript functions is that JavaScript functions can be run in different contexts. In Java programming the use of the keyword this refers to the current instance of the class where it is used. When used in a JavaScript function, this refers to the context in which that function is running. A function will run in the closure that defines it unless otherwise specified.

In the simplest terms, a closure can be considered to be any JavaScript code contained within curly braces ({}). A function declared inside a JavaScript file can use this to access any variable declared in the main body of that file, but a function declared inside a hash can only use this to reference variables declared inside that hash, unless it is provided with an alternative context to work in.

Because enclosed functions are often required as arguments to Dojo functions, understanding how to set their context will save a lot of unnecessary debugging.

The main Dojo function that is used to assign context is dojo.hitch. You may never use dojo.hitch, but it is important to understand that it is one of the cornerstones of Dojo, and many other functions are invoking it under the covers.

Listing 3 shows how context hitching works (its output is shown in Figure 1):

• A variable is defined at the global context (globalContextVariable) and another variable is declared in the context of a hash (enclosedVariable).
• The function accessGlobalContext() can successfully access globalContextVariable and display its value.
• But, enclosedFunction() can only access its local variable enclosedVariable (note that the value of globalContextVariable is displayed as "undefined").
• Using dojo.hitch to "hitch" enclosedFunction() to the global context allows globalContextVariable to be displayed (note however that enclosedVariable is now undefined because it is not declared in the context that enclosedFunction() is running.

				
var globalContextVariable = "foo";

function accessGlobalContext() {
    // This will successfully output "foo"...
    console.log(this.globalContextVariable);
};

var myHash = {
    enclosedVariable : "bar",
    enclosedFunction : function() {
                           // Display global context variable...
                           console.log(this.globalContextVariable);

                           // Display enclosed context variable...
                           console.log(this.enclosedVariable);
                       }
};

console.log("Calling accessGlobalContext()...");
accessGlobalContext();

console.log("Calling myHash.enclosedFunction()...");
myHash.enclosedFunction();

console.log("Switch the context using dojo.hitch...");
var switchContext = dojo.hitch(this, myHash.enclosedFunction);
switchContext();
            

Declaring classes

The reason why this hitching is so important will become apparent as soon as you start to declare Dojo classes or to create your own widgets. One of the greatest powers of Dojo is the ability to "wire" objects together through the use of the dojo.connect function and the built-in pub/sub model.

Declaring a class requires three objects:

1. A unique name for the class
2. A parent class to extend function from (plus any "mix-in" classes to simulate multiple inheritance)
3. A hash defining all the attributes and functions.

The simplest possible class that can be declared in shown in Listing 4, and its instantiation in Listing 5.

				
dojo.declare(
   "myClass",
   null,
   {}
);

				
var myClassInstance = new myClass();

If you want to declare a "real" (that is, useful) Dojo class, it's important to understand constructors. In Java code you can declare multiple overloaded constructors to enable the instantiation of the class by a variety of different signatures. In a Dojo class you can declare a preamble, a constructor, and a postscript, but in the majority of cases you will only need to declare a constructor.

• Unless you're mixing-in other classes to simulate multiple inheritances, you are unlikely to require preamble, as it allows you to manipulate your constructor arguments before they are actually passed to the extended and mixed-in classes.
• postscript drives the Dojo widget life cycle methods, but provides no benefit to a standard Dojo class.

It is not essential to declare any of them, but to pass any values into an instance of the class the constructor function must be declared as a minimum. If the constructor arguments are to be accessed by any other method of the class, they must be assigned to declared attributes. Listing 6 shows a class that assigns only one of its constructor arguments to a class attribute and then attempts to reference both in another method.

				
dojo.declare(
    "myClass",
    null,
    {
        arg1 : "",
        constructor : function(arg1, arg2) {
                          this.arg1 = arg1;
                      },
        myMethod : function() {
                       console.log(this.arg1 + "," + this.arg2);
                   }
    }
);

var myClassInstance = new myClass("foo", "bar");
myClassInstance.myMethod();
            

Complex attribute rules

Class attributes can be initialized when declared, but if the attribute is initialized with a complex object type (such as a hash or an array) that attribute becomes analogous to a public static variable in a Java class. This means that whenever any instance updates it, the change will be reflected in all other instances. To avoid this problem, complex attributes should be initialized in the constructor; however, this is not necessary for simple attributes such as strings, booleans, and so on.

				
dojo.declare(
    "myClass",
    null,
    {
        globalComplexArg : { val : "foo" },
        localComplexArg : null,
        constructor : function() {
                          this.localComplexArg = { val:"bar" };                          
                      }
    }
);

// Create instances of myClass A and B...
var A = new myClass();
var B = new myClass();

// Output A's attributes...
console.log("A's global val: " + A.globalComplexArg.val); 
console.log("A's local val: " + A.localComplexArg.val); 

// Update both of A's attributes...
A.globalComplexArg.val = "updatedFoo";
A.localComplexArg.val = "updatedBar";

// Update B's attributes...
console.log("A's global val: " + B.globalComplexArg.val);
console.log("A's local val: " + B.localComplexArg.val);
            

Overriding methods

A method of a superclass can be extended by declaring an attribute with the same name. There is no concept of overloading, as JavaScript ignores any unexpected arguments and substitutes null for any that are missing. In Java code, to invoke the overridden method you call the method on super (that is, super().methodName(arg1, arg1);), but in Dojo you use the inherited method (this.inherited(arguments);). Listing 8 shows two classes declared, where child extends parent, overriding its helloWorld method, but calls inherited to access the function of parent.

	
dojo.declare(
    "parent",
    null,
    {
        helloWorld : function() {
                         console.log("parent says 'hello world'");
                     }
    }
);

dojo.declare(
    "child",
    parent,
    {
        helloWorld : function() {
                         this.inherited(arguments); // Call superclass method...
                         console.log("child says 'hello world'");
                     }
    }
);

var child = new child();
child.helloWorld();

Setting method context

Listing 9 shows a Java class that, upon instantiation, copies the elements from the supplied string array to an ArrayList of strings. It would not be unreasonable to assume that the same functionality can be provided in Dojo with the code in Listing 10. (Note the instantiation of targetArray in the constructor function to prevent it being global.) Unfortunately, it will result in the error message shown in Figure 5, because the function declared in the dojo.forEach method call creates a closure that defines this as referring to its own body.

	
import java.util.ArrayList;

public class MyClass
{
    // Declare an ArrayList of Strings...
    private ArrayList<String> targetArray = new ArrayList<String>();

    public MyClass(String[] sourceArray)
    {
        // Copy each element of a String[] into the ArrayList...
        for (String val: sourceArray) 
        {
            this.targetArray.add(val);
        }
    }
}

	
dojo.declare(
    "myClass",
    null,
    {
        targetArray: null,
        constructor: function(source) {
                         // Initialise in constructor to avoid making global
                         this.targetArray = []; 

                         // Copy each element from source into target...
                         dojo.forEach(source, 
                                    function(item) {
                                        this.targetArray[this.targetArray.length] = item;
                                    });
                     },
    }
);

// This will cause an error!
var myClass = new myClass(["item1","item2"]);

Although targetArray is not defined at the context enclosed by the function, it is possible to pass the context where it is defined as an argument to the Dojo function. This means the this keyword can then access any objects (including functions) that have been declared at that context. The correct implementation is shown in Listing 11 (note the additional code in bold).

	
dojo.declare(
    "myClass",
    null,
    {
        targetArray: null,
        constructor: function(source) {
                         // Initialise in constructor to avoid making global
                         this.targetArray = []; 

                         // Copy each element from source into target...
                         dojo.forEach(source, 
                                    function(item) {
                                        this.targetArray[this.targetArray.length] = item;
                                    }, this);
                     },
    }
);
                

Context is not always passed as the same argument in a Dojo functions signature:

• In dojo.subscribe the context is passed before the function declaration (Listing 12).
• In dojo.connect both the context where the trigger method is defined and the context where the target method is defined should be supplied. Listing 13 shows an example where obj1 is the context where methodA is defined and obj2 is the context where methodB is defined. Calling methodA on obj1 will result in methodB being invoked on obj2.

	
dojo.declare(
    "myClass",
    null,
    {
        subscribe : function() {
                        dojo.subscribe("publication",
                                       this, 
                                       function(pub) { 
                                           this.handlePublication(pub);
                                       });
                    },

        handlePublication : function(pub) {
                                console.log("Received: " + pub);
                            }
    }
);
                

	
dojo.connect(obj1, "methodA", obj2, "methodB");

Conclusion

JavaScript will never come naturally to developers who have become used to the more structured environment of Java code. Yet the implementation of Dojo, with its class declaration capabilities, does make the leap to client-side development considerably easier. A good understanding of context, and when and how to set it, will save a lot of pain for the Java developer and help them confidently add JavaScript to their toolbox.

Resources

• All the information and resources for getting started can be found at DojoToolkit.org.
  
  
• Find out more about Eclipse-based tooling to help write JavaScript in the developerWorks article Meet the JavaScript Development Toolkit (developerWorks, May 2008).
  
  
• Browse the technology bookstore for books on these and other technical topics.
  
  
• More information on other Ajax technologies (including Dojo) can be found in the developerWorks Ajax resource center.
  
  
• You can also get a complete reference of the Dojo API.
  
  
• Some excellent examples of Dojo coding are available at the Dojo campus.
  
  

About the author

Dave Draper has been a developer of the WebSphere Application Server Administrative Console for the past 6 years. He is a Sun Certified Web Component Developer and has extensive experience developing Web-based tooling.

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Table of contents

• Introduction
• The JavaScript hash
• Functions are objects
• Declaring classes
• Complex attribute rules
• Overriding methods
• Setting method context
• Conclusion
• Resources
• About the author
• Comments

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