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$(someObject).on('someEvent',function(eventObj){ alert(eventObject.dataForAnyListener); }); //'yay' $(someObject).trigger({type:'someEvent', dataForAnyListener:'yay'});

Don't get me wrong. It's a good smell to sniff for, but sometimes there's no way around a buttload of flow-control. Always see what you can do to reduce your if/elses but don't assume they're always wrong merely for existing. UI gets hairy sometimes.

$(someObject).on('someEvent',function(eventObj){ alert(eventObject.dataForAnyListener); });
//'yay'
$(someObject).trigger({type:'someEvent', dataForAnyListener:'yay'});

Don't get me wrong. It's a good smell to sniff for, but sometimes there's no way around a buttload of flow-control. Always see what you can do to reduce your if/elses but don't assume they're always wrong merely for existing. UI gets hairy sometimes.

#6 Start With Defaults

function SpyCar(overrides){

    var defaultSettings = {
        ejectionSeatArmed:true,
        oilSlickFlammability:.99,
        car:'Aston Martin DB5'
    } 

    for(var x in overrides){
        defaultSettings[x] = overrides[x];
    }
    //See also $.extend(defaultSettings, overrides) if into JQ

    //do important spy car code here based on defaultSettings
}

var boDukeSuperSpy = new SpyCar( { car:'\'69 Dodge Charger' } );

Considering defaults before the code is even written can be helpful in organizing code because it kicks off your lazy developer instincts. What's the easiest most common setup you'll deal with? How do those common settings relate? Sometimes you might never need a setting. Other times you might realize that just because nobody will ever want a genre-bending General Lee as a spy car, doesn't mean it wasn't later useful to leave the door open for make/model swapouts.

Now mind, DO avoid setting anything in the DOM before you absolutely have to. That's when CSS reflow concerns kick in.

Odds are good you're using jQuery. It actually has a very nice architectural tool not at all related to the DOM. Try this:

Don't get me wrong. It's a good smell to sniff for, but sometimes there's no way around a buttload of flow-control. Always see what you can do to reduce your if/elses but don't assume they're always wrong to be there .

So, don't set DOM stuff directly from your settings. Your settings should be more about what, in plain English terms, the app does or doesn't do when you flip that switch.

Now mind, DO avoid setting anything in the DOM before you absolutely have to. That's when CSS reflow concerns kick in. Get like crazy but don't set two things at different times if they can happen in the same function.

Odds are good you're using jQuery. It actually has a very nice architectural tool not at all related to the DOM. It can trigger and listen for custom events on the fly on any old object. Try this:

Don't get me wrong. It's a good smell to sniff for, but sometimes there's no way around a buttload of flow-control. Always see what you can do to reduce your if/elses but don't assume they're always wrong merely for existing. UI gets hairy sometimes.

This is a hard question to answer generally but I'm going to try. Consider the following:

#1 Does that need to be state?

For instance the DOM. One mistake people make a lot is to not see the DOM for the big giant live global data-structure construct that it is. It's there. It's doing work all the time whether you touch it or not. Take advantage of it. Do not save information that the DOM already has or can get very quickly. You will eventually fall out of sync with it and your app will faceplant. I mention this in a settings conversation because settings are exactly the kind of place where DOM concerns typically get way too close to higher-level app logic. If you can check the DOM for the state of something, stick with the DOM.

Now mind, DO avoid setting anything in the DOM before you absolutely have to. That's when CSS reflow concerns kick in.

#2 Let Your Features Check the Settings

If an object knows whether to hide/show the HTML that is its face to the user because it checks the settings itself, you shouldn't have to think about it when flipping a boolean that says whether the feature that object handles is available.

#3 One Setting Value Always Means One Thing

I break this one somewhat regularly to be honest but I think it's worth considering as a heuristic and I've often regretted breaking it. If behavior established by one setting can become altered based on a combination of it and the values of other settings, that can get ugly. It's better to flip a switch that makes an object realize it will have to do a certain set of things depending on its circumstances than to flip a switch that then causes some third party to run around and sort out the circumstances and then tell the object exactly what it and the other relevant objects must do.

#4 Listen, Don't Tell

Odds are good you're using jQuery. It actually has a very nice architectural tool not at all related to the DOM. Try this:

var someObject = {};

$(someObject).on('ICanMakeUpAnyEventIWant', function(){
    alert('I can do anything I want based on that event.');
} );

$(someObject).trigger('ICanMakeUpAnyEventIWant');

On the whole theme of "let your lower-level objects handle the logic" you could also set your settings properties via getter/setter-style methods that trigger events when changes happen. By triggering an event, you can add new things that need to respond to said event without changing the behavior of anything else that responds to that event or the thing that originated said event. This can be very good where settings are concerned.

#5 Sometimes you need a crap-ton of logic

Don't get me wrong. It's a good smell to sniff for, but sometimes there's no way around a buttload of flow-control. Always see what you can do to reduce your if/elses but don't assume they're always wrong to be there .

This is a hard question to answer generally but I'm going to try. Consider the following:

#1 Does that need to be state?

For instance the DOM. One mistake people make a lot is to not see the DOM for the big giant live global data-structure construct that it is. It's there. It's doing work all the time whether you touch it or not. Take advantage of it. Do not save information that the DOM already has or can get very quickly. You will eventually fall out of sync with it and your app will faceplant. I mention this in a settings conversation because settings are exactly the kind of place where DOM concerns typically get way too close to higher-level app logic. If you can check the DOM for the state of something, stick with the DOM.

Now mind, DO avoid setting anything in the DOM before you absolutely have to. That's when CSS reflow concerns kick in.

#2 Let Your Features Check the Settings

If an object knows whether to hide/show the HTML that is its face to the user because it checks the settings itself, you shouldn't have to think about it when flipping a boolean that says whether the feature that object handles is available.

#3 One Setting Value Always Means One Thing

I break this one somewhat regularly to be honest but I think it's worth considering as a heuristic and I've often regretted breaking it. If behavior established by one setting can become altered based on a combination of it and the values of other settings, that can get ugly. It's better to flip a switch that makes an object realize it will have to do a certain set of things depending on its circumstances than to flip a switch that then causes some third party to run around and sort out the circumstances and then tell the object exactly what it and the other relevant objects must do.

#4 Listen, Don't Tell

Odds are good you're using jQuery. It actually has a very nice architectural tool not at all related to the DOM. Try this:

var someObject = {};

$(someObject).on('ICanMakeUpAnyEventIWant', function(){
    alert('I can do anything I want based on that event.');
} );

$(someObject).trigger('ICanMakeUpAnyEventIWant');

On the whole theme of "let your lower-level objects handle the logic" you could also set your settings properties via getter/setter-style methods that trigger events when changes happen. By triggering an event, you can add new things that need to respond to said event without changing the behavior of anything else that responds to that event or the thing that originated said event. This can be very good where settings are concerned.

That trigger method can also be used to hand off an event object with data:

$(someObject).on('someEvent',function(eventObj){ alert(eventObject.dataForAnyListener); }); //'yay' $(someObject).trigger({type:'someEvent', dataForAnyListener:'yay'});

So for instance, imagine a settings object whose settings were set with methods that also triggered 'someSpecificSettingChange' events with 'newValue' properties in their event objects.

#5 Sometimes you need a crap-ton of logic

Don't get me wrong. It's a good smell to sniff for, but sometimes there's no way around a buttload of flow-control. Always see what you can do to reduce your if/elses but don't assume they're always wrong to be there .