Concur

====================================
Concur |travis_status| |qunit_tests|
====================================

.. |travis_status| image:: https://secure.travis-ci.org/insin/concur.png
:target: http://travis-ci.org/insin/concur

.. |qunit_tests| image:: http://insin.github.com/img/qunit-tests.png
:target: http://insin.github.com/concur/tests.html

`Object.extend? Object!

Concur.extend? Concur!

Syntactic sugar for JavaScript inheritance, which takes two of the JavaScript
Functions Of The Ages (extend() and inherits()), combines their power in
a Backbone_-style infectious inheritance function and allows for
inheritance-time metaprogramming and mixins for those who need them.

Runs in browsers and Node.js_.

Install
=======

Browsers:

* concur.js_ or concur.min.js_, which export a Concur variable.

Node.js::

npm install concur

::

var Concur = require('Concur')

.. _Backbone: https://github.com/documentcloud/backbone
.. _concur.js: https://raw.github.com/insin/concur/master/concur.js
.. _concur.min.js: https://raw.github.com/insin/concur/master/concur.min.js
.. _Node.js: http://nodejs.org

Usage
=====

Concur is sugar_ for JavaScript inheritance.

It deals with constructor functions, prototypes and prototype chains.
It does not break instanceof and constructors created with Concur will
not be instanceof Concur - it does not attempt to transplant paradigms
from other languages into JavaScript, but it does try to provide a
convenient means of manipulating prototypes while setting up inheritance.

.. _sugar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntactic_sugar

Assuming the standard inherits(child, parent) function -- which \deep
breath\** puts one constructor's prototype in another constructor's prototype
chain, so objects created with the latter will have access to the former's
prototype properties when property access walks the prototype chain -- you
might have an inheritance hierarchy set up something like this::

function inherits(child, parent) {
function F() {}
F.prototype = parent.prototype
child.prototype = new F()
child.prototype.constructor = child
}

function Widget(attrs) {
this.attrs = attrs || {}
}

Widget.prototype.isHidden = false

function Input(attrs) {
Widget.call(this, attrs)
}
inherits(Input, Widget)

Input.prototype.inputType = null

Input.prototype.render = function(name, value) {
return DOMBuilder.build([
'input', {type: this.inputType, name: name, value: value}
])
}

function TextInput(attrs) {
Input.call(this, attrs)
}
inherits(TextInput, Input)

TextInput.prototype.inputType = 'text'

You could start sugaring this by having Concur take care of setting up
prototype inheritance and generating default constructors.

The Concur.extend() function returns a constructor function -- either
one you provide or a default which calls the "parent" constructor in the
context of the object being created, passing along all given arguments --
which you can continue to work with as above. The extend() function is
attached to the resulting constructor before it is returned, so it can be
further extended from using the same API.

Setting up a prototype by augmenting a constructor's prototype
property-by-property is preferred by some as it doesn't introduce any extra
levels of nesting, and gives each property plenty of room for scanning and
documentation::

var Widget = Concur.extend({
constructor: function(attrs) {
this.attrs = attrs || {}
}
})

Widget.prototype.isHidden = false

var Input = Widget.extend()

Input.prototype.inputType = null

Input.prototype.render = function(name, value) {
return DOMBuilder.build([
'input', {type: this.inputType, name: name, value: value}
])
}

var TextInput = Input.extend()

TextInput.prototype.inputType = 'text'

To further sugar this, you could pass additional properties to the
extend() function, which will augment the prototype for you.

You might prefer to do this only with data, rather than functions, or you
might prefer the compactness of having the entire prototype definition as
part of one statement (particularly for constructors with small
prototypes) - for demonstration purposes, this example shows the latter::

var Widget = Concur.extend({
isHidden: false
, constructor: function(attrs) {
this.attrs = attrs || {}
}
})

var Input = Widget.extend({
inputType: null
, render: function(name, value) {
return DOMBuilder.build([
'input', {type: this.inputType, name: name, value: value}
])
}
})

var TextInput = Input.extend({
inputType: 'text'
)}

Manipulating Prototypes
-----------------------

The following "special" properties, or "dunder-properties" owing to the double
underscores, can be used to manipulate prototypes at inheritance time. The
manipulations they enable are performed in the order they are listed below.

__meta__(prototypeProps, constructorProps)
If a constructor's prototype properties include a dunder-meta property,
then when extend() is used on that constructor, dunder-meta will be
called with all property-defining objects which were passed in.

This enables you to declare constructors which can modify the prototypes of
constructors inheriting from them, at inheritance time.

Contrived example::

function NutAllergyProtectionMeta(prototypeProps) {
var nutIndex = prototypeProps.ingredients.indexOf('nuts')
if (nutIndex != -1) {
prototypeProps.ingredients.splice(nutIndex, 1)
}
}

var Bar = Concur.extend({
__meta__: NutAllergyProtectionMeta
, eat: function() {
if (this.ingredients.indexOf('nuts') != -1) {
console.log('You eat nuts. You die.')
}
else {
console.log('You feel a bit dunder-meta.')
}
}
})

var NougatBar = Bar.extend({
ingredients: ['sugar', 'egg whites', 'nuts']
})

>>> var snack = new NougatBar()
>>> snack.eat()
You feel a bit dunder-meta.

Actual examples:

* Implementing basic Django-style declarative models: ./examples/models.js_.
* Implementing inheritance of fields from ancestor constructors and mixing in
fields from other constructors at the same time: newforms/lib/forms.js_

.. _./examples/models.js: https://github.com/insin/concur/blob/master/examples/models.js
.. _newforms/lib/forms.js: https://github.com/insin/newforms/blob/master/lib/forms.js#L891-943

__mixins__
If any properties object passed to extend() includes a dunder-mixins
Array, each of its contents will be mixed into that properties object in the
given order.

API
===

Concur.extend([prototypeProps[, constructorProps]])
-------------------------------------------------------

Creates a child constructor which inherits from the call context object
(this), adding the given prototype and constructor properties and
adding extend() as a property of the new constructor for further
extension:

* Calling Concur.extend() creates a "base" constructor, which inherits
from Object just like any other Function.

* Calling extend() in the context of any other constructor creates a
new constructor which inherits from it.

When required, constructor logic should be provided as a function --
prototypeProps.constructor() -- otherwise, a default constructor which
calls the parent constructor with all given arguments will be created for you.

Child constructors will have a __super__ property added to them referencing
the prototype they extend, as a convenience for accessing it when required.

Child constructors will also have an __mro__ property added to them, which
is a list of the constructors in their inheritance chain, with the new child
constructor itself at the head of the list.

Special arguments:

prototypeProps.constructor([...])
If provided, this function will be used as the child constructor, otherwise a
new child constructor function will be created for you.

prototypeProps.__meta__(prototypeProps, constructorProps)
If provided, this function will not be used immediately, but will be called
when further extension is done based on the constructor returned by this call
to extend().

At that point, __meta__ will be called with the property arguments passed
to extend() so it can customise them before they're used to set up the
inheriting constructor's prototype.

prototypeProps.__mixins__ and constructorProps.__mixins__`
If provided, the contents of this Array will be mixed in to the properties
object it's set on, in the given order.

MIT License
===========

Copyright (c) 2014, Jonathan Buchanan

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in
the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to
use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of
the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR
COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER
IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.