JavaScript Scoping Concerns

JavaScript is generally geared towards building highly interactive Ajax based applications. As the main programming language in Ajax, it can provide interaction with users to the point that the website becomes an online application. It can especially work faster if developers focus on building lightweight Ajax based applications.

Although Ajax could definitely work on large scale applications, it will not be easy for developers. The main challenge is when an application increases in size especially on coding is on the scope of the code.

For the online application to work, the information needed should be available at anytime. This means the data should not be limited in scope, the data implemented has to be global in perspective. When this happens, the information and function could be easily implemented as the functions could interact with any data even though they are located in other area of the application.

This setting definitely sounds convenient. Instead of coding again and again, you can just call the data source and provide the sufficient function. But applying global scope for data is not as easy as it sounds. The name conflicts could happen when a data is applied to the entire application. This is possible since each function could call the same data.

An easy solution to the problem is to recreate the code into hierarchical order. In this setting, developers could easily distinguish which functions come first. The data processing could be easier since the browser will recognize which function should come first which greatly helps in data interpretation.

But this setting also provides another problem for developers. Hierarchical setting may have addressed the challenges of global scope but it could jeopardize the flexibility of the application. If you’re building JavaScript applications, there is a chance that you could mash-up, add an API or most likely update. Updating in a hierarchical setting is very difficult since you need to make some changes in almost every line created.

So how do you deal with the scoping challenges? Create separate modules for each function. This might sound the long way out to deal with scoping but if you’re building a complicated application, you need to have a big solution even to simpler problems to prevent complications. By creating a module for different sets of functions, you’ll be able to develop functions and create data tags that will move away from global scope.

At this point, you may have realized that the “trick” in dealing with scoping problems is to create independence in data and functions. The best way to create that independence is to use modules. You’re practically creating small Ajax based applications that would eventually interact with one another. If the other module needs the data located in another module, it can just call the module instead of intruding with other functions.

By isolating the functions and data by creating modules, you’ll be able to build an efficient application without any name conflict problems. The process of addressing the problem may seem difficult but it’s essential so that the application would be a success.