lazy-getter

lazy-getter

Lazily evaluate properties and cache the results.

Installation

npm install lazy-getter

Usage

Plain-Old Javascript

If you're using plain-old Javascript, then you can inject lazy getters into your objects via the injectLazyGetter(...) function:

const { injectLazyGetter } = require('lazy-getter');

const x = {};

// Notice: this getter is computationally expensive to run!
injectLazyGetter(x, "expensive", function() {
  console.log("Starting calculations");
  let k = 0;
  for(let i = 0; i < 100000; ++i) {
    for(let j = 0; j < 100000; ++j) {
      ++k;
    }
  }

  console.log("Finished expensive calculation!");
  return k;
});


// The getter will be evaluated the first time it is invoked
console.log(x.expensive);  // Super SLOW!


// Now the result is cached.  So, all subsequent calls will
// just be regular property lookups.
console.log(x.expensive);  // Super FAST!

Decorators

If you're using Babel's Decorators Transform, then you can convert your getters to lazy getters via the @lazyGetter decorator:

const { lazyGetter } = require('lazy-getter');

const x = {
  @lazyGetter
  get expensive() {
    console.log("Starting calculations");
    let k = 0;
    for(let i = 0; i < 100000; ++i) {
      for(let j = 0; j < 100000; ++j) {
        ++k;
      }
    }

    console.log("Finished expensive calculation!");
    return k;
  },
};

console.log(x.expensive); // Super SLOW!
console.log(x.expensive); // Super FAST!

...Why?

Lazy Getters might seem a bit esoteric, but they are definitely very handy in certain scenarios. Here are a few examples:

Rarely-needed, but Computationally-Expensive Property

For example:

class HumongousNumber {

  @lazyGetter
  get primeFactorization() {
    // Algorithm that returns an Array of prime factors
    // for the number.  Might take years to run.
  }
}

Infinite Object Graphs

Sometimes, it's useful to model a problem as an infinite graph of Objects. Obviously, you can't actually contruct this infinite graph since it would require an unlimited about of time and memory. Fortunately, you can "fake it" using lazy getters:

function integerNode(i) {
  return {
    value: i,

    @lazyGetter
    get next() {
      return integerNode(i + 1);
    },
  }
}

const x = integerNode(0);

console.log(x.next.next.next.next.value); // Prints: 4

Now the object graph will be constructed as needed.

FYI: zelda-lists leverages this technique to convert any iterable Object into a linked list. This allows infinite iterators to be converted into infinite object graphs, which makes it significantly easier to implement recursive algorithms.