How to document ECMA6 classes with JSDoc?

Question

Background

I have a project in Nodejs using ECMA6 classes and I am using JSDoc to comment my code, as to make it more accessible to other developers.

However, my comments are not well accepted by the tool, and my documentation is a train wreck.

Problem

My problem is that I don't know how to document ECMA6 classes with JSDoc and I can't find any decent information.

What I tried

I tried reading the official example but I find it lacking and incomplete. My classes have members, constant variables and much more, and I don't usually know which tags to use for what.

I also made an extensive search in the web, but most information I found is prior to 2015 where JSDocs didn't support ECMA6 scripts yet. Recent articles are scarce and don't cover my needs.

The closest thing I found was this GitHub Issue:

• https://github.com/jsdoc3/jsdoc/issues/819

But it is outdated by now.

Objective

My main objective is to learn how to document ECMA6 classes in NodeJS with JSDoc.

I have a precise example that I would like to see work properly:

/**
 * @fileOverview What is this file for?
 * @author Who am I?
 * @version 2.0.0
 */

"use strict";

//random requirements. 
//I believe you don't have to document these.
let cheerio = require('cheerio');

//constants to be documented. 
//I usually use the @const, @readonly and @default tags for them
const CONST_1 = "1";
const CONST_2 = 2;

//An example class
class MyClass {

    //the class constructor
    constructor(config) {
        //class members. Should be private. 
        this.member1 = config;
        this.member2 = "bananas";
    }

    //A normal method, public
    methodOne() {
       console.log( methodThree("I like bananas"));
    }

    //Another method. Receives a Fruit object parameter, public
    methodTwo(fruit) {
        return "he likes " + fruit.name;
    }

    //private method
    methodThree(str) {
       return "I think " + str;
    }
}
module.exports = MyClass;

Question

Given this mini class example above, how would you go about documenting it using JSDoc?

An example will be appreciated.

Answer 1

Late answer, but since I came across this googling something else I thought I'd have a crack at it.

You've probably found by now that the JSDoc site has decent explanations and examples on how to document ES6 features.

Given that, here's how I would document your example:

/**
 * module description
 * @module MyClass
 */
 //constants to be documented. 
 //I usually use the @const, @readonly and @default tags for them
/** @const {String} [description] */
const CONST_1 = "1";
/** @const {Number} [description] */
const CONST_2 = 2;

//An example class
/** MyClass description */
class MyClass {

    //the class constructor
    /**
     * constructor description
     * @param  {[type]} config [description]
     */
    constructor(config) {
        //class members. Should be private. 
        /** @private */
        this.member1 = config;
        /** @private */
        this.member2 = "bananas";
    }

    //A normal method, public
    /** methodOne description */
    methodOne() {
       console.log( methodThree("I like bananas"));
    }

    //Another method. Receives a Fruit object parameter, public
    /**
     * methodTwo description
     * @param  {Object} fruit      [description]
     * @param  {String} fruit.name [description]
     * @return {String}            [description]
     */
    methodTwo(fruit) {
        return "he likes " + fruit.name;
    }

    //private method
    /**   
     * methodThree description
     * @private
     * @param  {String} str [description]
     * @return {String}     [description]
     */
    methodThree(str) {
       return "I think " + str;
    }
}
module.exports = MyClass;

Note that @const implies readonly and default automatically. JSDoc will pick up the export, the @class and the @constructor correctly, so only the oddities like private members need to be specified.