Grouped Accessors and Auto-Accessors for ECMAScript

This introduces an investigation into new syntax for grouped accessors to classes and object literals and auto-accessors to classes. A grouped accessor is a single declaration that contains either or both both of the get and set methods for an accessor. An auto-accessor is a simplified variant of a grouped accessor that elides the bodies of the get and set methods and introduces a private backing field used by both the getter and setter.

Under Consideration: We may consider expanding auto-accessors to work on object literals in the future, however the necessary private name semantics are currently not defined for object literals.

Status

Stage: 1
Champion: Ron Buckton (@rbuckton)

For detailed status of this proposal see TODO, below.

Authors

• Ron Buckton (@rbuckton)

Grouped Accessors

class C {
  accessor x {
    get() { ... } // equivalent to `get x() { ... }`
    set(value) { ... } // equivalent to `set x(value) { ... }`
  }

  accessor y {
    get() { ... } // equivalent to `get y() { ... }`
    #set(value) { ... } // equivalent to `set #y(value) { ... }`
  }

  accessor #z {
    get() { ... } // equivalent to `get #z() { ... }`
    set(value) { ... } // equivalent to `set #z(value) { ... }`
  }

  static accessor x {
    get() { ... } // equivalent to `static get x() { ... }`
    set(value) { ... } // equivalent to `static set x(value) { ... }`
  }
}

const obj = {
  accessor x {
    get() { ... }
    set(value) { ... }
  }
};

A grouped accessor is essentially a way to define either one or both of the get and set methods of an accessor in a single logical group. This provides the following benefits:

• The get and set declarations are logically grouped together, which improves readability.
  • This can also result in an improved editor experience in editors with support for folding (i.e., ▶ accessor x { ... })
• A grouped get and set accessor pair with a ComputedPropertyName only needs to have its name evaluated once.
• In a class, the setter for a public property can be marked as private using #set, this introduces both a public binding for the identifer, and a private binding for the identifier (but prefixed with #). For example:

  class C {
    accessor y {
      get() { ... }
      #set(value) { ... }
    }
  }

  Introduces a y getter on the prototype and a #y setter on the instance.
• A decorator applied to the group could observe both the get and set methods simultaneously for entangled operations. For example:

  function dec({ get, set }, context) {
    ...
    return { get, set, };
  }
  class C {
    @dec
    accessor x {
      get() { ... }
      set(value) { ... }
    }
  }

  • This allows you to reuse a decorator designed for an accessor field with a paired get and set declaration.
  • This also provides a capability that was present in the Stage 1 Decorators proposal that is currently missing in the Stage 3 Decorators proposal.

Auto-Accessors

class C {
  accessor a = 1;                   // same as `accessor a { get; set; } = 1;`
  accessor b { } = 1;               // same as `accessor b { get; set; } = 1;`
  accessor c { get; set; } = 1;     // same as `accessor c = 1;`
  accessor d { get; } = 1;          // getter but no setter
  accessor e { set; } = 1;          // setter but no getter (use case: decorators)
  accessor f { get; #set; };        // getter with private setter `#f`;
  accessor g { #set; } = 1;         // private setter but no getter (use case: decorators)
  accessor #h = 1;                  // same as `accessor #h { get; set; } = 1;`
  accessor #i { } = 1;              // same as `accessor #i { get; set; } = 1;`
  accessor #j { get; set; } = 1;    // same as `accessor #j = 1;`
  accessor #k { get; } = 1;         // getter but no setter
  accessor #l { set; } = 1;         // setter but no getter (use case: decorators)

  // also allowed:
  accessor "foo";                   // same as `accessor "foo" { get; set; }`
  accessor 1;                       // same as `accessor 1 { get; set; }`
  accessor [x];                     // same as `accessor [x] { get; set; }`
  static accessor a = 1;            // as well as all of the other non-static variants

  // not allowed:
  // accessor "bar" { get; #set; }  // error: no private setters for string properties
  // accessor 2 { get; #set; }      // error: no private setters for numeric properties
  // accessor [y] { get; #set; }    // error: no private setters for computed properties
  // accessor #m { get; #set; };    // error: accessor is already private
  // accessor #n { #set; };         // error: accessor is already private
}

An auto-accessor is a simplified version of a grouped accessor that allows you to elide the body of the get and set methods, and optionally provide an initializer. An auto-accessor introduces a unique unnamed private field on the class which is wrapped by a generated getter and an optional generated setter. Using #set instead of set indicates that a private setter of the same name as the public member (but prefixed with #) exists on the object and provides privileged access to set the underlying value.

This provides the following benefits:

• Introduces accessors that can be overridden in subclasses without excess boilerplate.
• Provides a replacement for fields that allows you to observe reading and writing the value of the field with decorators.
• Allows you to perform initialization inline with the declaration, similar to fields.
• Allows you to decorate the individual get or set method stubs independently of the entire accessor. For example:

  class C {
    accessor x { @dec get; set; }
  }

  • This allows you to reuse a decorator designed only for a get or a set method in the context of an accessor field definition.

Proposed Syntax

Please see the specification for the proposed syntax.

Proposed Semantics

Please see the specification for the full proposed semantics. The following represents some approximate semantics for this proposal. The gist of which is the following:

• Only accessor properties with IdentifierName names can have a #set stub or #set method:

  class C {
      accessor x { get; #set; } // ok
      accessor #y { get; #set; } // syntax error
      accessor "z" { get; #set; } // syntax error
      accessor 1 { get; #set; } // syntax error
      accessor [expr] { get; #set; } // syntax error
  }

• You cannot have both a set and a #set in the same group:

  class C {
      accessor x { get; #set; } // ok
      accessor y { set; #set; } // syntax error
  }

• You cannot combine get, set, or #set stub definitions with get, set, or #set methods:

  class C {
      accessor x { get; #set; } // ok
      accessor y { get() { return 1; } set(v) { } } // ok
      accessor z { get() { return 1; } set; } // error
  }

• You cannot combine get, set, or #set methods with an initializer:

  class C {
      accessor w = 1; // ok
      accessor x { get; } = 1; // ok
      accessor y { get; set; } = 1; // ok
      accessor z { get() { return 1; } } = 1; // error
  }

• You cannot have an accessor property that has a #set stub or method that collides with another private name on the class:

  class C {
      #w;
      accessor w; // ok
  
      #x;
      accessor x { get; set; }; // ok
  
      #y;
      accessor y { get; #set; }; // error (collides with #y)
  
      #z;
      accessor z { get() { } #set(v) { } }; // error (collides with #z)
  }

• Object literals cannot have auto-accessors:

  const obj = {
    accessor x { get() { return 1; } }, // ok
    accessor y { get; }, // syntax error
  };

Interaction with Decorators

This proposal is intended to dovetail with the Decorators proposal and shares syntax with auto-accessors in that proposal. This proposal expands upon the Decorators proposal in the following ways:

• By adding an AccessorGroup to an auto-accessor, you are able to decorate both the entire accessor declaration as well as the individual get and set method stubs:

  class C {
      @dec1 // called as `dec1({ get, set }, context)`
      accessor x {
          @dec2 // called as `dec2(fn, context)`
          get;
  
          @dec3 // called as `dec3(fn, context)`
          set;
      }
  }

• A decorator on a grouped accessor is able to access both the get and set declarations, similar to early decorator implementations in TypeScript and Babel:

  class C {
      @dec1 // called as `dec1({ get, set }, context)`
      accessor x {
          get() { ... }
          set(v) { ... }
      }
  
      @dec2 get y() { ... } // called as `dec2(fn, context)`
  }

• Similar to auto-accessors, grouped accessors can be decorated both at the accessor declaration level and at the individual getter and setter declarations:

  class C {
      @dec1 // called as `dec1({ get, set }, context)`
      accessor x {
          @dec2 // called as `dec2(fn, context)`
          get() { ... }
  
          @dec3 // called as `dec3(fn, context)`
          set(v) { ... }
      }
  }

In addition, some aspects of auto-accessors that may at first seem like edge cases become powerful capabilities with decorators:

// Get-only accessors

// an accessor with only a getter and no initializer is has limited use on its own...
class Service {
  accessor users { get; }
}

// ...however a decorator could be used to perform dependency injection by replacing the getter:
class Service {
  @inject("userService")
  accessor users { get; }
}


// Set-only accessors

// A setter with no getter is has limited use on its own...
class WriteOnlyCounter {
  accessor inc { set; } 
}

// ...however, a decorator can replace the setter to make it more useful:
class WriteOnlyCounter {
  @observeChanges()
  accessor inc { set; }
}


// Private-set-only accessors

// The following could have been written as `accessor #value { set; }`...
class Widget {
  accessor value { #set; }

  exec() {
    this.#value = ...;
  }
}

// ...however, a decorator here could attach a public getter, which
// it would not be able to do if `value` was named `#value` instead.
class Widget {
  @decorator
  accessor value { #set; }

  exec() {
    this.#value = ...;
  }
}

This proposal also helps to provide consistency between decoration forms, which aids in reusability of decorators:

Element	kind: "get"	kind: "set"	kind: "accessor"
get x() {}	✔️	⛔	⛔
set x(v) {}	⛔	✔️	⛔
accessor x;	⛔	⛔	✔️
accessor x { get; set; }	✔️	✔️	✔️
accessor x { get() {} set(v) {} }	✔️	✔️	✔️

Prior Art

• C# (1, 2)

Examples

Grouped Accessors

class Point {
  #x = 0;
  #y = 0;

  accessor x {
    get() { return this.#x; }
    set(v) {
      if (typeof v !== "number") throw new RangeError();
      this.#x = v;
    }
  }

  accessor y {
    get() { return this.#y; }
    set(v) {
      if (typeof v !== "number") throw new RangeError();
      this.#y = v;
    }
  }
}

Auto-Accessors

class Customer {
  accessor id { get; #set; } // public get, private set
  accessor name;
  constructor(id, name) {
    this.#id = id;
    this.name = name;
  }
}
const c = new Customer(1, "Jane");
c.id; // 1
c.id = 2; // TypeError

TODO

The following is a high-level list of tasks to progress through each stage of the TC39 proposal process:

Stage 1 Entrance Criteria

• Identified a "champion" who will advance the addition.
• Prose outlining the problem or need and the general shape of a solution.
• Illustrative examples of usage.
• High-level API.

Stage 2 Entrance Criteria

• Initial specification text.
• Transpiler support (Optional).

Stage 3 Entrance Criteria

• Complete specification text.
• Designated reviewers have signed off on the current spec text.
• The ECMAScript editor has signed off on the current spec text.

Stage 4 Entrance Criteria

• Test262 acceptance tests have been written for mainline usage scenarios and merged.
• Two compatible implementations which pass the acceptance tests: [1], [2].
• A pull request has been sent to tc39/ecma262 with the integrated spec text.
• The ECMAScript editor has signed off on the pull request.