Why use a variable instead of this?

Asked Aug 25 '14 at 23:24

Active Aug 25 '14 at 23:24

Viewed 56 times

In a Javascript code example, I saw a professional use a variable instead of the constant this:

var self = this;
self.[global_variable] = 0;

why do people use a different variable? for some reason, I tried replacing self with this

this.[global_variable] = 0;

didnt work? How does this happen?

asked Aug 25 '14 at 23:24

user3853858

What does "didn't work" mean? – Code-Apprentice Aug 25 '14 at 23:25
4

Are you sure you saw: `self.[global_variable] = 0;`, and not `self[global_variable] = 0;`? Because the first looks like a syntax error, at best. – David Thomas Aug 25 '14 at 23:25
1

@DavidThomas: I think he used brackets to mark a metasyntactic variable, not as part of a JavaScript syntax. – Amadan Aug 25 '14 at 23:30
yeah I just used brackets to mark a variables .. lets say self.x – user3853858 Aug 25 '14 at 23:32
@Code-Apprentice didnt work meaning this.x = 0 didnt set x to 0 – user3853858 Aug 25 '14 at 23:33
Please edit your question with a **complete** example that anyone can copy and paste and run themselves. – Code-Apprentice Aug 25 '14 at 23:36

0 Answers0