JavaScript Patterns 5.8 Chaining Pattern

Chaining Pattern - Call methods on an object one after the other without assigning the return values of the previous operations to variables and without having to split your calls on multiple lines.

var obj = {

    value: 1,

    increment: function () {

        this.value += 1;

        return this;

    },

    add: function (v) {

        this.value += v;

        return this;

    },

    shout: function () {

        alert(this.value);

    }

};

// chain method calls

obj.increment().add(3).shout(); // 5

// as opposed to calling them one by one

obj.increment();

obj.add(3);

obj.shout(); // 5

Pros and Cons of the Chaining Pattern

Pros

1. save some typing and create more concise code that almost reads like a sentence.
2. splitting your functions and creating smaller, more specialized functions, as opposed to functions that try to do too much. This improves the maintainability in the long run.

Cons

　　debug code written this way which it's hard to check which part is wrong in the same line.

 

References: 

JavaScript Patterns - by Stoyan Stefanov (O`Reilly)