I was wondering if anyone has a good, working example of a circular reference in javascript? I know this is incredibly easy to do with closures, but have had a hard time wrapping my brain around this. An example that I can dissect in Firebug would be most appreciated.
Thanks
A simple way to create a circular reference is to have an object that refers to itself in a property:
function Foo() {
this.abc = "Hello";
this.circular = this;
}
var foo = new Foo();
alert(foo.circular.circular.circular.circular.circular.abc);
Here the foo
object contains a reference to itself.
With closures this is usually more implicit, by just having the circular reference in scope, not as an explicit property of some object:
var circular;
circular = function(arg) {
if (arg) {
alert(arg);
}
else {
// refers to the |circular| variable, and by that to itself.
circular("No argument");
}
}
circular("hello");
circular();
Here the function saved in circular
refers to the circular
variable, and thereby to itself. It implicitly holds a reference to itself, creating a circular reference. Even if circular
now goes out of scope, it is still referenced from the functions scope. Simple garbage collectors won't recognize this loop and won't collect the function.