that, self or me — which one to prefer in JavaScript?

Question

While coding JavaScript sometimes you store the reference of object this in a local variable for different purposes (to set proper scope, to help code obfuscato

Answer 1

Well personally I'm trying to get better at making the variable mean something a little more than "that thing I need later". Often you need those temporary variables in situations that get a little gnarly; there might be two or more layers of temporary this stashes to keep track of.

Thus, for example in a jQuery setup, I might use something to note the element type that a temporary this stash should hold:

$('form').each(function() {
  var $form = $(this);
  $form.find('input:checkbox').each(function() {
    var $checkbox = $(this);
    // ...
  });
});

Using the "$" prefix on the variables is a nice way to keep track of whether the object has been "jQuery-ized" or not :-)