Add a function to the prototype with access to "this"

Question

On the one hand I can assign a new function to an object with Object.defineProperty(...).

Then I tried to assign a function directly to the NodeList Prototype. But somehow it doesn't work properly. What am I doing wrong?

Object.defineProperty(
  NodeList.prototype,
  'lastElement', { 
    get: function() {
      return this[this.length - 1].textContent;
    }
  }
);

NodeList.prototype.firstElement = () => {
   return this[0].textContent;
}

const h = document.querySelectorAll('span');
console.log('#last:', h.lastElement);
console.log('#first:', h.firstElement);

<div>
  <span>1</span>
  <span>2</span>
</div>

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 06 '22 at 18:32

Arrow functions () => {...} are not just a different syntax that behaves the same way, they actually handle the this keyword differently.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Functions/Arrow_functions#arrow_functions_used_as_methods

If you switch to using the traditional function syntax, this will behave as you are expecting.

Additionally, you've defined firstElement as a regular function, not a getter function, so you will need to call it like this

console.log('#first:', h.firstElement());

Object.defineProperty(
  NodeList.prototype,
  'lastElement', { 
    get: function() {
      return this[this.length - 1].textContent;
    }
  }
);

NodeList.prototype.firstElement = function() {
   return this[0].textContent;
}

const h = document.querySelectorAll('span');
console.log('#last:', h.lastElement);
console.log('#first:', h.firstElement());

<div>
  <span>1</span>
  <span>2</span>
</div>

Thanks a lot! Is it still possible to write it so that the assigning function still gets a getter? So that I can call it without `()`? — KrassVerpeilt, Apr 06 '22 at 18:47
I don't think so, I think you are limited to the method you used for `lastElement` — Eric Phillips, Apr 06 '22 at 18:55
Thank you for the explanation! I learned something today :-) Merci — KrassVerpeilt, Apr 06 '22 at 19:08

Add a function to the prototype with access to "this"

1 Answers1