Question

Example 1

var Reptile = function () {
  var reptile = this;
   this.showBla = function() {
       alert(reptile.bla);
   }
}

var turtle = new Reptile();
turtle.bla = 'whatever';
turtle.showBla();

Example 2

var Reptile = function () {
   this.showBla = function() {
       alert(this.bla);
   }
}

var turtle = new Reptile();
turtle.bla = 'whatever';
turtle.showBla();

Is example 1 legit? As it sometimes seems to screw things over to define “this” directly in the constructor…?!?

Answer 1

Yes, it is legit and is useful in cases where you may need to define a function inside a function that may be invoked in a way there “this” will pointer to something else. Books recommend naming this variable var that = this;