Static Methods Lab

Learning Goals

• Write JavaScript static methods

Introduction

In this lab, we are going to practice writing static methods. In JavaScript, static methods aren't called on on instances of a class, but are called directly on a class itself.

Declaring a Static Method

To declare a static method, we write the word static inside the class declaration directly before a method's name:

class StaticMethod {
	static methodName() {
		console.log('My method is static!');
	}
}

Because static methods are called directly on the classes themselves, static methods have no access to data stored in specific objects.

Calling a Static Method

As the static method is operating on the class, you call the static method directly on the class.

ClassName.methodName();
// Calls the method explicitly on the class name itself and returns the `static` value

For static methods, this references the class. This means that you can call a static method from within another static method of the same class using this.

Instructions

You are going to write three static methods in the Formatter class. Write your code in the index.js file. Let the tests guide you through the process.

1. Write a method static capitalize that takes in a string and capitalizes the first letter.
2. Write a method static sanitize that takes in a string and removes all non-alphanumeric characters except for dashes, single quotes and spaces.
3. Write a method static titleize that takes in a string and capitalizes all words in a sentence except the, a, an, but, of, and, for, at, by, and from; and always capitalizes the first word.

Conclusion

Static methods are useful ways to create utility methods for your data. If you have operation that you need do perform on a batch of data (say, capitalize all of the headlines on your website, as above), static methods are your go-to tool. Since they are called on the class but don't have access to individual objects, they are somewhat limited in their scope, but can be very powerful in the correct application.

Resources

• Static Methods