Getters and setters

You can add methods prefixed with get or set to create a getter and setter, which are two different pieces of code that are executed based on what you are doing: accessing the variable, or modifying its value.

class Person {
  constructor(name) {
    this._name = name
  }

  set name(value) {
    this._name = value
  }

  get name() {
    return this._name
  }
}

If you only have a getter, the property cannot be set, and any attempt at doing so will be ignored:

class Person {
  constructor(name) {
    this._name = name
  }

  get name() {
    return this._name
  }
}

If you only have a setter, you can change the value but not access it from the outside:

class Person {
  constructor(name) {
    this._name = name
  }

  set name(value) {
    this._name = value
  }
}

Getters and setters are very useful when you want to execute some code upon changing the property value, or if you want to create a “computed” property. You can alter the values you return by using a getter.

You can also run some code, like logging to the console or to a file when a value is changed.

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