plastikaweb
1/12/2019 - 7:14 PM

Constructor functions, reference class with typeof

Here we create a new variable called greeterMaker. This variable will hold the class itself, or said another way its constructor function. Here we use typeof Greeter, that is "give me the type of the Greeter class itself" rather than the instance type. Or, more precisely, "give me the type of the symbol called Greeter," which is the type of the constructor function. This type will contain all of the static members of Greeter along with the constructor that creates instances of the Greeter class. We show this by using new on greeterMaker, creating new instances of Greeter and invoking them as before.

class Greeter {
    static standardGreeting = "Hello, there";
    greeting: string;
    greet() {
        if (this.greeting) {
            return "Hello, " + this.greeting;
        }
        else {
            return Greeter.standardGreeting;
        }
    }
}

let greeter1: Greeter;
greeter1 = new Greeter();
console.log(greeter1.greet());

let greeterMaker: typeof Greeter = Greeter;
greeterMaker.standardGreeting = "Hey there!";

let greeter2: Greeter = new greeterMaker();
console.log(greeter2.greet());