Function.prototype.apply()
The apply()
method calls a function with a given this
value and arguments
provided as an array (or an array-like object).
Note: While the syntax of this function is almost identical to that of call()
, the fundamental difference is that call()
accepts an argument list, while apply()
accepts a single array of arguments.
Syntax
<var>fun</var>.apply(<var>thisArg, </var>[<var>argsArray</var>])
Parameters
thisArg
- The value of
this
provided for the call tofun
. Note thatthis
may not be the actual value seen by the method: if the method is a function in non-strict mode code,null
andundefined
will be replaced with the global object, and primitive values will be boxed. argsArray
- An array-like object, specifying the arguments with which
fun
should be called, ornull
orundefined
if no arguments should be provided to the function. Starting with ECMAScript 5 these arguments can be a generic array-like object instead of an array. See below for browser compatibility information.
Return value
The result of calling the function with the specified this
value and arguments.
Description
You can assign a different this
object when calling an existing function. this
refers to the current object, the calling object. With apply
, you can write a method once and then inherit it in another object, without having to rewrite the method for the new object.
apply
is very similar to call()
, except for the type of arguments it supports. You can use an arguments array instead of a named set of parameters. With apply
, you can use an array literal, for example, fun.apply(this, ['eat', 'bananas'])
, or an Array
object, for example, fun.apply(this, new Array('eat', 'bananas'))
.
You can also use arguments
for the argsArray
parameter. arguments
is a local variable of a function. It can be used for all unspecified arguments of the called object. Thus, you do not have to know the arguments of the called object when you use the apply
method. You can use arguments
to pass all the arguments to the called object. The called object is then responsible for handling the arguments.
Since ECMAScript 5th Edition you can also use any kind of object which is array-like, so in practice this means it's going to have a property length
and integer properties in the range (0...length)
. As an example you can now use a NodeList
or a custom object like { 'length': 2, '0': 'eat', '1': 'bananas' }
.
Most browsers, including Chrome 14 and Internet Explorer 9, still do not accept array-like objects and will throw an exception.
Examples
Using apply
to chain constructors
You can use apply
to chain constructors for an object, similar to Java. In the following example we will create a global Function
method called construct
, which will enable you to use an array-like object with a constructor instead of an arguments list.
Function.prototype.construct = function (aArgs) { var oNew = Object.create(this.prototype); this.apply(oNew, aArgs); return oNew; };
Note: The Object.create()
method used above is relatively new. For an alternative method using closures, please consider the following alternative:
Function.prototype.construct = function(aArgs) { var fConstructor = this, fNewConstr = function() { fConstructor.apply(this, aArgs); }; fNewConstr.prototype = fConstructor.prototype; return new fNewConstr(); };
Example usage:
function MyConstructor() { for (var nProp = 0; nProp < arguments.length; nProp++) { this['property' + nProp] = arguments[nProp]; } } var myArray = [4, 'Hello world!', false]; var myInstance = MyConstructor.construct(myArray); console.log(myInstance.property1); // logs 'Hello world!' console.log(myInstance instanceof MyConstructor); // logs 'true' console.log(myInstance.constructor); // logs 'MyConstructor'
Note: This non-native Function.construct
method will not work with some native constructors (like Date
, for example). In these cases you have to use the Function.prototype.bind
method (for example, imagine having an array like the following, to be used with Date
constructor: [2012, 11, 4]
; in this case you have to write something like: new (Function.prototype.bind.apply(Date, [null].concat([2012, 11, 4])))()
— anyhow this is not the best way to do things and probably should not be used in any production environment).
Using apply
and built-in functions
Clever usage of apply
allows you to use built-ins functions for some tasks that otherwise probably would have been written by looping over the array values. As an example here we are going to use Math.max
/Math.min
to find out the maximum/minimum value in an array.
// min/max number in an array var numbers = [5, 6, 2, 3, 7]; // using Math.min/Math.max apply var max = Math.max.apply(null, numbers); // This about equal to Math.max(numbers[0], ...) // or Math.max(5, 6, ...) var min = Math.min.apply(null, numbers); // vs. simple loop based algorithm max = -Infinity, min = +Infinity; for (var i = 0; i < numbers.length; i++) { if (numbers[i] > max) { max = numbers[i]; } if (numbers[i] < min) { min = numbers[i]; } }
But beware: in using apply
this way, you run the risk of exceeding the JavaScript engine's argument length limit. The consequences of applying a function with too many arguments (think more than tens of thousands of arguments) vary across engines (JavaScriptCore has hard-coded argument limit of 65536), because the limit (indeed even the nature of any excessively-large-stack behavior) is unspecified. Some engines will throw an exception. More perniciously, others will arbitrarily limit the number of arguments actually passed to the applied function. (To illustrate this latter case: if such an engine had a limit of four arguments [actual limits are of course significantly higher], it would be as if the arguments 5, 6, 2, 3
had been passed to apply
in the examples above, rather than the full array.) If your value array might grow into the tens of thousands, use a hybrid strategy: apply your function to chunks of the array at a time:
function minOfArray(arr) { var min = Infinity; var QUANTUM = 32768; for (var i = 0, len = arr.length; i < len; i += QUANTUM) { var submin = Math.min.apply(null, arr.slice(i, Math.min(i+QUANTUM, len))); min = Math.min(submin, min); } return min; } var min = minOfArray([5, 6, 2, 3, 7]);
Using apply in "monkey-patching"
Apply can be the best way to monkey-patch a built-in function of Firefox, or JS libraries. Given someobject.foo
function, you can modify the function in a somewhat hacky way, like so:
var originalfoo = someobject.foo; someobject.foo = function() { // Do stuff before calling function console.log(arguments); // Call the function as it would have been called normally: originalfoo.apply(this, arguments); // Run stuff after, here. }
This method is especially handy where you want to debug events, or interface with something that has no API like the various .on([event]...
events, such as those usable on the Devtools Inspector).
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
ECMAScript 3rd Edition (ECMA-262) | Standard | Initial definition. Implemented in JavaScript 1.3. |
ECMAScript 5.1 (ECMA-262) The definition of 'Function.prototype.apply' in that specification. |
Standard | |
ECMAScript 2015 (6th Edition, ECMA-262) The definition of 'Function.prototype.apply' in that specification. |
Standard | |
ECMAScript 2017 Draft (ECMA-262) The definition of 'Function.prototype.apply' in that specification. |
Draft |
Browser compatibility
Feature | Chrome | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic support | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) |
ES 5.1 generic array-like object as arguments |
(Yes) | 4.0 (2.0) | ? | ? | ? |
Feature | Android | Chrome for Android | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Mobile | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic support | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) |
ES 5.1 generic array-like object as arguments |
? | ? | 4.0 (2.0) | ? | ? | ? |
See also
arguments
objectFunction.prototype.bind()
Function.prototype.call()
- Functions and function scope
Reflect.apply()
License
© 2016 Mozilla Contributors
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-us/docs/web/javascript/reference/global_objects/function/apply