up vote 11 down vote favorite
1
 
var array_of_functions = [
    first_function('a string'),
    second_function('a string'),
    third_function('a string'),
    forth_function('a string')
]

array_of_functions[0];

That does not work as intended because each function in the array is executed when the array is created.

What is the proper way of executing any function in the array by doing:

array_of_functions[0];  // or, array_of_functions[1] etc.

Thanks!

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1  
Does 'a string' need to be known at the time the array is populated, or can the caller of the function pass it in? – Crescent Fresh Feb 5 '11 at 17:33
I'd love to get more detail on what you're trying to accomplish, because there might be a better way of handling this. – jlbruno Feb 5 '11 at 17:36
1  
"Array of Functions" - or as we like to call it an object with methods – symcbean Feb 5 '11 at 17:38

4 Answers

up vote 19 down vote accepted 
var array_of_functions = [
    first_function,
    second_function,
    third_function,
    forth_function
]

and then when you want to execute a given function in the array:

array_of_functions[0]('a string');
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Thank you, all, for the amazingly quick, helpful responses. I should have thought of this solution sooner ("duh" moment). Coding while feeling tired can be counter-productive :-P – Nick Feb 5 '11 at 17:50
up vote 8 down vote

Or just:

var myFuncs = {
  firstFun: function(string) {
    // do something
  },

  secondFunc: function(string) {
    // do something
  },

  thirdFunc: function(string) {
    // do something
  }
}
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up vote 7 down vote

I think this is what the original poster meant to accomplish:

var array_of_functions = [
    function() { first_function('a string') },
    function() { second_function('a string') },
    function() { third_function('a string') },
    function() { forth_function('a string') }
]

for (i = 0; i < array_of_functions.length; i++) {
    array_of_functions[i]();
}

Hopefully this will help others (like me 20 minutes ago :-) looking for any hint about how to call JS functions in an array.

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up vote 5 down vote

Without more detail of what you are trying to accomplish, we are kinda guessing. But you might be able to get away with using object notation to do something like this...

var myFuncs = {
  var firstFun = function(string) {
    // do something
  },

  var secondFunc = function(string) {
    // do something
  },

  var thirdFunc = function(string) {
    // do something
  }
}

and to call one of them...

myFuncs.firstFunc('a string')
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