This document provides an opinionated list of code conventions and patterns for writing classes in modern JavaScript.
The aim is to establish a contract between the Consumer, the Provider, and developers, focusing on intention. Some property types have a stronger contract than others.
There are six categories of property types that a class can have: public, private, read-only, protected, scoped, and immutable.
[!NOTE]
In many object-oriented languages, the concept of protected members allows properties and methods to be accessible within the class they are defined, as well as by subclasses. JavaScript, however, does not natively support protected members. This article introduces a novel approach to simulate protected access in JavaScript classes using symbols and private fields.
JavaScript provides private fields, but they are not accessible to any derived classes. This limitation means that developers cannot use private fields to directly implement protected members, which are a staple in many other object-oriented languages.
The solution involves using symbols as keys for protected properties and methods, ensuring that only the class and its subclasses have access to them. This is achieved by: