What is 'this' ? 😳

This 😭

The this keyword can lead to some headaches in JavaScript - this blog hopefully acts as a remedy.

this refers to different things, depending on where it's used and how (if used in a function) a function is called !

Generally, this refers to the "thing" which called a function. That can be the global context, an object or some bound data/ object (e.g. when the browser binds this to the button that triggered a click event).

1) this in Global Context (i.e. outside of any function)

function something() { ... }

console.log(this); 

// logs global object (window in browser) - ALWAYS (also in strict mode)! 🙌

2) this in a Function (non-Arrow) - Called in the global context

function something() { 
    console.log(this);
}

something(); 

// logs global object (window in browser) in non-strict mode, undefined in strict mode 🙌

3) this in an Arrow-Function - Called in the global context

const something = () => { 
    console.log(this);
}

something(); 

// logs global object (window in browser) - ALWAYS (also in strict mode)! 🙌

4) this in a Method (non-Arrow) - Called on an object

const person = { 
    name: 'Mayank',
    greet: function() { // or use method shorthand: greet() { ... }
        console.log(this.name);
    }
};

person.greet(); 

// logs 'Max', "this" refers to the person object 🙌

5) this in a Method (Arrow Function) - Called on an object

const person = { 
    name: 'Max',
    greet: () => {
        console.log(this.name);
    }
};

person.greet();

// logs nothing (or some global name on window object), "this" refers to global (window) object, even in strict mode 🙌

If in doubt, a console.log(this); can always help you find out what this is referring to at the moment!

HAPPY CODING 👨‍💻