Question

(function( $ ){  
    MY_SINGLETON_OBJ = MY_SINGLETON_OBJ || (function () { // initialize the singleton using an immediate anonymous function which returns an object
        // init here (only happens once even if this plugin is included multiple times)
        console.log("Initialized");
        return {
            version: "0.1"
            // return values that are to be accessible from the singleton
        };
    })();
    $.fn.MyJqueryObjectMethod = function (a, b, c) {
        // perform tasks
        return this; // maintain chainability
    };
})(jQuery);

The singleton is polluting the global namespace. Is there a better way to define it?

Answer 1

That looks to me like it would work, though I think you should at least declare your singleton globally rather than use an implicit definition.

You don’t have to be that tricky. You can just as easily do this which I think it a bit more readable and obvious:

// explicit global definition
var MY_SINGLETON_OBJ;

(function( $ ){  
    if (!MY_SINGLETON_OBJ) {
        // initalize the singleton here
        MY_SINGLETON_OBJ = {};
        MY_SINGLETON_OBJ.prop1 = 1;
    }
    $.fn.MyJqueryObjectMethod = function (a, b, c) {
        // perform tasks
        return this; // maintain chainability
    };
})(jQuery);