Question

I want to be able to use methods that I haven’t required() at the beginning of the file.

Something like this:

var contact = require('contact');

person = contact.create({
    'name': createName()
});

Here I want to use the function createName() even if I haven’t required() it explicitly.

Here are examples in Ruby:

# By extending a class it gets the class methods from the parent:
class Section < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :document
  has_many :paragraphs
end

# By using a block and executing it in an object containing those methods used
namespace "admin" do
  resources :posts, :comments
end

It doesn’t have to be exactly like the example, but somehow inject methods/variables into the code without explicitly using require(), so it would be as elegant and simple as Ruby.

Is this possible in Javascript?

Answer 1

EDIT: It is possible to just use createName() and its not required to export it. But it is required for you to export the module that contains it.

Example: (test2.js)

exports.normal = function() {
    console.log("Exporting is normal");
};

GLOBAL.superior = function() {
    console.log("Global is superior");
};

var privateInferior = function() {
    console.log("Private is inferior")
}

var i_am_a_variable = 5;

var i_m_an_array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

(test1.js)

var test2 = require('./test2.js');
test2.normal(); // works!!

superior(); // works!!

privateInferior(); // does not work as it is not global.

console.log(i_am_a_variable); // does not work as it is not global.

console.log(i_m_an_array); // does not work as it is not global.

normal() // does not work as it is exported. Available only via test2.