seanmonstar

var that = this

I used to think say you should use that in the question “What variable should I name this for closures?” This was because self is already a variable that points to window. However, I’ve since revised my opinion on what is a good variable name in this case.

I now find that and self to be too vague.

Instead, I think the variable should be named after the Class that you are currently coding in. As always, it’s easier to explain with code:

var PackageController = new Class({

    doSomething: function() {
        var controller = this;

        someEl.addEvent('click', function(e) {
            controller.react();
        });
    }

});

The reason is because once you start delving a couple nested functions deep¹, I find myself sometimes wondering if I bound that to the value I wanted. This way leaves little to wonder about. And since you read code far more than you write it, best to write the most readable code you can.