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I just read, and then for good measure re-read, "JavaScript: The Good Parts" by Douglas Crockford, who is probably the foremost javascript authority on planet Earth. The book blew my mind. I thought I knew javascript; I thought I had a pretty good grasp of it; before I picked up this book I would have referred to myself as a javascript expert when introducing myself at parties. It turns out I had a lot more to think about. I find this delightful.

One of the valuable lessons I learned is a javascript module pattern, discussed with examples at the YUI (Yahoo! User Interface) blog: http://yuiblog.com/blog/2007/06/12/module-pattern/. The take home message is that you can create objects that support private members. I didn't even know that was possible, but it turns out that it is, due to function scope and the concept of closure. It took me a few reads with furrowed brow to grok closure, so I can hardly explain it quickly, but essentially:

  1. A function can return a function and then wink out of existence.
  2. The returned inner function retains access to other members and data defined in its original parent function.
  3. Those other members and data are not directly accessible anymore, so they are private.

Fantastic.

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