Javascript: Extend a Function

Question

The main reason why I want it is that I want to extend my initialize function.

Something like this:

// main.js

window.onload = init();
function init(){
     doSomething();
}

// extend.js

function extends init(){
    doSomethingHereToo();
}

So I want to extend a function like I extend a class in PHP.

And I would like to extend it from other files too, so for example I have the original init function in main.js and the extended function in extended.js.

Answer 1

With a wider view of what you're actually trying to do and the context in which you're doing it, I'm sure we could give you a better answer than the literal answer to your question.

But here's a literal answer:

If you're assigning these functions to some property somewhere, you can wrap the original function and put your replacement on the property instead:

// Original code in main.js
var theProperty = init;

function init(){
     doSomething();
}

// Extending it by replacing and wrapping, in extended.js
theProperty = (function(old) {
    function extendsInit() {
        old();
        doSomething();
    }

    return extendsInit;
})(theProperty);

If your functions aren't already on an object, you'd probably want to put them there to facilitate the above. For instance:

// In main.js
var MyLibrary = {
    init: function init() {
    }
};

// In extended.js
(function() {
    var oldInit = MyLibrary.init;
    MyLibrary.init = extendedInit;
    function extendedInit() {
        oldInit.call(MyLibrary); // Use #call in case `init` uses `this`
        doSomething();
    }
})();

But there are better ways to do that. Like for instance, providing a means of registering init functions.

// In main.js
var MyLibrary = (function() {
    var initFunctions = [];
    return {
        init: function init() {
            var fns = initFunctions;
            initFunctions = undefined;
            for (var index = 0; index < fns.length; ++index) {
                try { fns[index](); } catch (e) { }
            }
        },
        addInitFunction: function addInitFunction(fn) {
            if (initFunctions) {
                // Init hasn't run yet, remember it
                initFunctions.push(fn);
            } else {
                // `init` has already run, call it almost immediately
                // but *asynchronously* (so the caller never sees the
                // call synchronously)
                setTimeout(fn, 0);
            }
        }
    };
})();

Here in 2020 (or really any time after ~2016), that can be written a bit more compactly:

// In main.js
const MyLibrary = (() => {
    let initFunctions = [];
    return {
        init() {
            const fns = initFunctions;
            initFunctions = undefined;
            for (const fn of fns) {
                try { fn(); } catch (e) { }
            }
        },
        addInitFunction(fn) {
            if (initFunctions) {
                // Init hasn't run yet, remember it
                initFunctions.push(fn);
            } else {
                // `init` has already run, call it almost immediately
                // but *asynchronously* (so the caller never sees the
                // call synchronously)
                setTimeout(fn, 0);
                // Or: `Promise.resolve().then(() => fn());`
                // (Not `.then(fn)` just to avoid passing it an argument)
            }
        }
    };
})();