Constructors and Access modifiers in TypeScript/Angular

What is Angular (Part 6.4) / What is TypeScript?

How it works… | How to start…

If you haven't covered Part — 6.3 of this series, I recommend you to check this linkInterfaces and Classes in TypeScript

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Fundamentals of TypeScript👇

  1. Type annotations

  2. Arrow functions

  3. Interfaces

  4. Classes

  5. Constructors

  6. Access modifiers

  7. Properties

  8. Modules

6.4 Constructors

Look down the code below...👇
  • Define a class (Point) — at line no. 2

  • Class properties — at line no. 3 and 4

  • Class methods — at line no. 7 and 13

  • Created an object (point) of Class (Point) — at line no. 18

  • Set values of properties (a and b) to object (point) — at line no. 19 and 20

  • Call method of class to draw a line (drawNewLine) — at line no. 25

⭐️ Now, what if we have so many properties in class to set for an object? — look at line no. 19–24

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We have better solution then setting values of each property. By using concept of Object-oriented-programming called Constructors.

So every class we have a constructor which is basically a method and that is called automatically when we create an instance of that class. So in above case constructor method will call at line no. 18 | that is at the execution of this code 👉 let point = new Point();

  • constructor is a reserved keyword in TypeScript.

  • constructor is actually a class method which can have parameters — look below code at line no. 7 we have parameter a and b of type number.

  • this keyword allow access to members of current object — look below code at line no. 8 and 9 here we set the values of class properties.

  • When we create an instance of class we need to pass these values of params a and b — look below code at line no. 21— we passed values (1, 2) these values go into the constructor method.

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  • Note: In TypeScript we can have only one constructor method into the class — but we can have optional parameters in constructor — look at line no. 7 — we can make a and b optional by using ? (question mark) after the parameter name and this makes these parameter optional.

  • Rule: when a parameter is made optional all other parameter at right side of the parameter should also be optional — its a rule. Look if b? is optional then c? and d? has to be optional.

    constructor(a: number, b?:number, c?:number, d?:number)

Now we can create an instance of class by skipping optional values — look below👇 at line no. 21 — passing value of param a and skipping value of b.

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Now, how to prevent values to be change after initializing from constructor.

// create a point object - by passing values of 'a' and 'b' for initialization

let point = new Point(1, 2); 👈 this will set values of 'a' and 'b' by calling constructor

point.a = 3; 👈 this will change value of 'a' AND WE WANT TO PREVENT THIS.

We can prevent changing values of a and b after initialization by using Access modifiers.

6.4 Access modifiers

An access modifier is a keyword that we can apply to a member of a class to control its access from the outside.

  • In TypeScript we have three keywords for access modifiers: public, private, and protected

  • By default all members (properties/fields and methods/functions) of classes are Public — accessible from outside of the class.

  • Access modifiers are used to control the access of class members (properties/fields and methods/functions) from outside of the class.

  • We can apply access modifier keywords to class properties/fields and methods/functions.

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⭐ Using (Public and Private) Access Modifier:

Look at the code below👇 — an example of using Access modifiers … (also read comments properly to understand more clearly)

Please carefully read all the comments in the imagePlease carefully read all the comments in the image

Above code at line no. 21 and 23 is invalid — because private members are not allowed to access from outside of the class.

TypeScript code prevents the direct access of private fields but we have a indirect way to access… using Properties!

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Properties allow access to private members outside of the class using get keyword and set keyword. To understand how, click over this link👉 Properties and Modules in TypeScript/Angular

⭐ Using (Protected) Access Modifier and Class extends another Class:

  • Declare two parameter: a (public) and b (protected) — look below 👇 at line no. 2 and 3

  • Note: In class Point — the property b is of type 'protected' — which means it can be accessible within the class Point or the class that extend it.

  • Create another class Draw - and class Draw extends Point — look below 👇 at line no. 14

  • Constructor of this new class Draw has to call parent constructor using super keyword — look below 👇 at line no. 19

  • We also have access to protected member (property b) of parent class Point — look below 👇 at line no. 20

  • At the end we create an object/instance of class Draw which is responsible to call constructor of class Draw and from within the constructor of Draw this will call parent class (Point) constructor using super() — look below👇 at line no. 27 then line no. 19

    Please carefully read all the comments in the image below... 👇👇

Please carefully read all the comments in the imagePlease carefully read all the comments in the image

⭐ Next, how to Less code in TypeScript:

We use parameters ( a?: number, b?:number ) in constructor to initialize fields in the class — look below 👇 at line no. 5 - 7

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⭐️ We can initialize class fields with less code in TypeScript — after modifying above code.

  • Delete class field declaration from class Point - delete line no. 2 and 3 from above code👆

  • Also delete field value assignments — delete line no. 6 and 7 from above code👆

  • Then in constructor prefix parameter with Access Modifier that is prefix parameter with private keyword - look line no. 2 in code below👇

Please carefully read all the comments in the imagePlease carefully read all the comments in the image

Things to remember before 👋👋

Class extends another Class (covered in this👇 article) https://medium.com/@AnkitMaheshwariIn/constructors-and-access-modifiers-in-typescript-22a2d6188780#09ed

Class implements an Interface (covered in this👇 article) https://medium.com/@AnkitMaheshwariIn/interfaces-and-classes-in-typescript-part-6-3-7fee77b7518b#ebd8

Interface extends another Interface (covered in this👇 article) https://medium.com/@AnkitMaheshwariIn/interfaces-and-classes-in-typescript-part-6-3-7fee77b7518b#0b2d

So this is it's about Constructors and Access modifiers — see you in the next part 👋👋 to cover another concept Properties and Modules.

If you haven't covered Part — 6.3 of this series, I recommend you to check this linkInterfaces and Classes in TypeScript

Stay tuned for Part — 6.5 > https://medium.com/@AnkitMaheshwariIn

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