Javascript: The 'this' keyword [context] cheatsheet

Javascript context i.e the 'this' keyword is quite a confusing topic in itself. Although, being very simple and semantic, it has been easy for me to forget the rules around context. With further ado, Let me introduce the cheatsheet for the infamous 'this' keyword!

Quick side note: This article is intended as a cheatsheet around JS context, It does not serve as a verbose explanation of the concept. If you are beginner and have not explored the 'context' concept yet, I highly recommend you to read this MDN doc first


Cheatsheet:

Use case	this	Example
Normal Functions
Invoked directly	window	fn() // this -> window
Invoked from object [Implicit Binding]	Invoking object	obj.fn() // this -> obj
Explicit Binding (bind, call, apply)	Passed reference	// --- .call .apply --- // obj.fn.call(otherObj) // this -> otherObj // --- .bind --- // const boundFn = obj.fn.bind(otherObj) boundFn() // this -> otherObj
Invoked in strict mode	undefined [[ If this->window ]]	'use strict' fn() // this -> undefined window.globalFn = fn window.globalFn() // this -> undefined obj.fn.call(window) // this -> undefined
Arrow Functions
Instantiation context: The value of 'this'[Context] when an object instance is created using a constructor.
Invoked [directly OR from object]	Instantiation context	// ----- direct invocation ---- // // Instantiation context: window const fn = () => console.log(this) fn() // this -> window // ----- invocation from obj [class instance] ---- // function myClass(){ this.fn = () => console.log(this) } -- OR -- class myClass { constructor(){ this.fn = () => console.log(this) } } // Instantiation context: obj1 const obj1 = new myClass() obj1.fn() // this -> obj1 // ----- invocation from obj ---- // // Instantiation context: window const obj2 = { fn: () => console.log(this) } obj2.fn() // this -> window
Explicit Binding (bind, call, apply)	Instantiation context [No Effect]	obj.fn.call(otherObj) // this -> window instance.fn.call(otherObj) // this -> instance
Invoked in strict mode	undefined [[ if this -> window ]]	'use strict' fn() // this -> undefined

Some simple examples🤥:

 const fn = function(){
  console.log(this)
 }
 
 const obj = { 
  fn1: fn,
  fn2: function() {
   fn()
  },
  fn3: function(){
   this.fn1()
  },
  fn4: fn.bind(obj),
  fn5: function(){
   this.fn1.call(obj)
  }
 }
 
 obj.fn1()
 // log: obj 
 // as 'fn1' was invoked via the obj object

 obj.fn2()
 // log: window
 // as 'fn2' was invoked via the obj, but
 // the inner 'fn' was invoked directly 

 obj.fn3()
 // log: obj
 // fn3 was invoked via the obj, 'this' pointed to the
 // 'obj'. As 'this' -> obj, the inner execution
 // [this.fn()] is as good 
 // as obj.fn1()

 obj.fn4()
 // log: obj
 // Explicit context binding ;)

 obj.fn5()
 // log: obj
 // hope you're getting a hang of it :P

Some more simple examples 🤥🤥🤥:

 function fnConstructor(){
  const fn = () => console.log(this)
  this.fn1 = () => console.log(this),
  this.fn2 = function(){
   console.log(this)
  }
  this.fn3 = fn,
  this.fn4 = function(){
   fn()
  }
  this.innerObj = { fn }
 }

 const obj = new fnConstructor()
 const obj2 = {
  obFn1: obj.fn1,
  obFn2: () => console.log(this)
 }

 obj.fn1()
 // log: obj (Instantiation context!)
 
 obj.fn2()
 // log: obj (Duhh^^)

 obj.fn3()
 // log: window ;)
 
 obj.fn4()
 // log: obj (Instantiation context!) 

 obj.innerObj.fn()
 // log: obj (Instantiation context!!) 

 obj2.obFn1()
 // log: obj (Instantiation context!!!)

 obj2.obFn2()
 // log: window ;) 

---

Hope that was helpful 😇
If you have any questions/confusions/suggestions/corrections, Please do post down in the comments section below.

Rohan Salunke: LinkedIn Twitter

Comments

[Himanshu Tiwari 🌼]

That topmost picture
Made me save it 😜

[Rohan Salunke]

Marketing 101 😁

[Himanshu Tiwari 🌼]

😂😂

[Ibé Dwi]

This is great!
Btw, did you turn on the syntax highlighter for the code snippet? I believe it will make your code snippet more readable :D

[Rohan Salunke]

Thanks! Yes it did try to enable markdown syntax highlighter but unfortunately markdown code block does not work well with tables, I had to use <pre> tags :(

[arunkumaralagesan]

obj.fn3() prints the context, if I am not wrong, pls confirm