Use Getters and Setters

☑️ Topic: Objects and Data Structures

☑️ Idea: Using getters and setters is better than accessing the object property directly. Accessing properties directly breaks encapsulation.

☑️ Benefits: Maintainability, Encapsulation, Reusability

☑️ Guideline: If you need to get or set information from an object consider getters and setters.

Other benefits:

When you want to do more beyond getting an object property, you don't have to look up and change every accessor in your codebase.

Makes adding validation simple when doing a set.

Encapsulates the internal representation.

It’s easy to add logging and error handling when getting and setting.

You can lazy load your object's properties, let's say getting it from a server.


// GOOD
class Person {
    constructor(name) {
        this.setName(name); // name is private
    }
    getName() { // a "getter"
        return this._name;
    }
    setName(newName) { // a "setter"
				// ... validate before updating
        if (newName === '') {
            throw 'The name cannot be empty';
        }
        this._name= newName;
    }
}