remove uses of 'var self = this;'

[rdworth]

DO NOT TRY TO FIX THIS UNTIL RIGHT BEFORE 1.9

Fixing this any sooner will cause merge conflicts for pull requests

---

var self = this;

is used in many plugins but not recommended best practice because if self isn't defined in a scope it will reference window.self

​http://www.javascriptkata.com/2007/05/14/how-to-use-the-self-with-object-oriented-javascript-and-closures/#dsq-comment-43493993

It should be removed from all plugins and replaced by something like 'that' or '_this'.

[AzaToth]

doesn't "var self=this;" define (and declare at the same time) self in the scope? Or is my understanding of javascript totally whacked? (or did you mean simple "self=this;" without the var part)

[Scott González]

Replying to AzaToth:

doesn't "var self=this;" define (and declare at the same time) self in the scope? Or is my understanding of javascript totally whacked? (or did you mean simple "self=this;" without the var part)

The problem is if you forget to include the assignment altogether. This isn't that uncommon if code is moved from one function to another. If the original function defines self and the new function doesn't, you could have a problem. In some cases, it's not obvious that the code is broken, because you may not get errors as an undefined self will reference window (try running window.self === window in a console). This could lead to storing values on the window instead of the plugin instance, and your plugin would continue to work properly, but would leak data into the global scope. Using a name other than self reduces the chances of this mistake going unnoticed.

[Jörn Zaefferer]

And that's not just a theoretical problem. Cost me a few hours at the time.

[davidmurdoch]

fixed in ​https://github.com/davidmurdoch/jquery-ui/pull/new/ticket-5404self