Question

I would like some advice. I am using typescript to create dialog boxes. Once created they take care of themselves as they have their own submit buttons and do there own checking.

Is there any advantage or disadvantage to either of the following two ways of coding? So far the only thing I can see is that the module approach with export allows me to hide a function and make it private if I don’t export it. When I use static and try to use the private modifier it shows a lock icon against it in intellisense but still lets me use it.

module Dialog {
    export class Modal {
        static createAccessModal(link: Link) {
            createModal(link);
        }
        static createAdminModal(link: Link) {
            link.Modal.MaxHeight = 600;
            link.Modal.Width = false;
            createModal(link);
        }
        static private createModal(link: Link) {

            ...
        }
    }
}

or doing:

module Dialog {
    export module Modal {
        export function createAccessModal(link: Link) {
            createModal(link);
        }
        export function createAdminModal(link: Link) {
            link.Modal.MaxHeight = 600;
            link.Modal.Width = false;
            createModal(link);
        }
        function createModal(link: Link) {

            ...
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

The module approach is preferred for what you are trying to achieve.

If using the class form, you’re effectively defining a constructor function even though you will never new up object instances, and adding members directly on the constructor function that cannot be truly private (as you observed).

Using the module approach you are simply constructing an object, and members you don’t export are contained within the closure that sets up the object – giving you true privacy on them.

A good way to see the effects of both is to paste your code for each into http://www.typescriptlang.org/Playground/ and analyze the generated code.