Mixins

Example of Mixins

To create mixins, simply declare lightweight classes that can be used as "behaviours".

class Flies {
    fly() {
        alert('Is it a bird? Is it a plane?');
    }
}

class Climbs {
    climb() {
        alert('My spider-sense is tingling.');
    }
}

class Bulletproof {
    deflect() {
        alert('My wings are a shield of steel.');
    }
}

You can then apply these behaviours to a composition class:

class BeetleGuy implements Climbs, Bulletproof {
        climb: () => void;
        deflect: () => void;
}
applyMixins (BeetleGuy, [Climbs, Bulletproof]);

The applyMixins function is needed to do the work of composition.

function applyMixins(derivedCtor: any, baseCtors: any[]) {
    baseCtors.forEach(baseCtor => {
        Object.getOwnPropertyNames(baseCtor.prototype).forEach(name => {
             if (name !== 'constructor') {
                derivedCtor.prototype[name] = baseCtor.prototype[name];
            }
        });
    });
}

Syntax

• class BeetleGuy implements Climbs, Bulletproof { }
• applyMixins (BeetleGuy, [Climbs, Bulletproof]);

Parameters

Parameter	Description
derivedCtor	The class that you want to use as the composition class
baseCtors	An array of classes to be added to the composition class

Remarks

There are three rules to bear in mind with mixins:

• You use the implements keyword, not the extends keyword when you write your composition class
• You need to have a matching signature to keep the compiler quiet (but it doesn’t need any real implementation – it will get that from the mixin).
• You need to call applyMixins with the correct arguments.