A simple IOC container for Typescript

Introduction

An IOC (Inversion of Control) container for Typescript. The idea behind is to create a simple container that can be used to register and resolve dependencies working with classes & functions but without reflect metadata. It is using simple Typescript code, so it can be used in any project without any dependency. Works in NextJS middleware and edge runtime.

Installation

npm i @evyweb/ioctopus

How to use

List your injection tokens

Create a symbol for each dependency you want to register. It will be used to identify the dependency.

export const DI: InjectionTokens = {
    DEP1: Symbol('DEP1'),
    DEP2: Symbol('DEP2'),
    LOGGER: Symbol('LOGGER'),
    MY_SERVICE: Symbol('MY_SERVICE'),
    MY_USE_CASE: Symbol('MY_USE_CASE'),
    SIMPLE_FUNCTION: Symbol('SIMPLE_FUNCTION'),
    CLASS_WITH_DEPENDENCIES: Symbol('CLASS_WITH_DEPENDENCIES'),
    CLASS_WITHOUT_DEPENDENCIES: Symbol('CLASS_WITHOUT_DEPENDENCIES'),
    HIGHER_ORDER_FUNCTION_WITH_DEPENDENCIES: Symbol('HIGHER_ORDER_FUNCTION_WITH_DEPENDENCIES'),
    HIGHER_ORDER_FUNCTION_WITHOUT_DEPENDENCIES: Symbol('HIGHER_ORDER_FUNCTION_WITHOUT_DEPENDENCIES')
} ;

Then create your container.

import { DI } from './di';

const container: Container = createContainer();

Register the dependencies

• You can register primitives

container.bind(DI.DEP1).toValue('dependency1');
container.bind(DI.DEP2).toValue(42);

• You can register functions without dependencies

const sayHelloWorld = () => console.log('Hello World');

container.bind(DI.SIMPLE_FUNCTION).toFunction(sayHelloWorld);

• You can register functions with dependencies by using higher order functions

const MyServiceWithDependencies = (dep1: string, dep2: number): MyServiceWithDependenciesInterface => {
    return {
        runTask: () => {
            // Do something with dep1 and dep2
        }
    };
};

// The dependencies will be listed in an array in the second parameter
container.bind(DI.HIGHER_ORDER_FUNCTION_WITH_DEPENDENCIES)
    .toHigherOrderFunction(MyServiceWithDependencies, [DI.DEP1, DI.DEP2]);

• But if you prefer, you can also use a dependency object

interface Dependencies {
    dep1: string,
    dep2: number
}

const MyService = (dependencies: Dependencies): MyServiceInterface => {
    return {
        runTask: () => {
            // Do something with dependencies.dep1 and dependencies.dep2
        }
    };
};

// The dependencies will be listed in an object in the second parameter
container.bind(DI.HIGHER_ORDER_FUNCTION_WITH_DEPENDENCIES)
    .toHigherOrderFunction(MyService, {dep1: DI.DEP1, dep2: DI.DEP2});

• For more complex cases, you can register factories.

container.bind(DI.MY_USE_CASE).toFactory(() => {
    // Do something before creating the instance
     
    // Then return the instance
    return MyUseCase({
        myService: container.get<MyService>(DI.MY_SERVICE)
    });
});

• You can register classes, the dependencies of the class will be resolved and injected in the constructor

class MyServiceClass implements MyServiceClassInterface {
    constructor(
        private readonly dep1: string,
        private readonly dep2: number,
    ) {}

    runTask(): string {
        return `Executing with dep1: ${this.dep1} and dep2: ${this.dep2}`;
    }
}

container.bind(DI.CLASS_WITH_DEPENDENCIES).toClass(MyServiceClass, [DI.DEP1, DI.DEP2]);

• But if you prefer, you can also use a dependency object

interface Dependencies {
    dep1: string,
    dep2: number
}

class MyServiceClass implements MyServiceClassInterface {
    constructor(private readonly dependencies: Dependencies) {}

    runTask(): string {
        return `Executing with dep1: ${this.dependencies.dep1} and dep2: ${this.dependencies.dep2}`;
    }
}

container.bind(DI.CLASS_WITH_DEPENDENCIES).toClass(MyServiceClass, {dep1: DI.DEP1, dep2: DI.DEP2});

• You can register classes without dependencies

class MyServiceClassWithoutDependencies implements MyServiceClassInterface {
    runTask(): string {
        return `Executing without dependencies`;
    }
}

container.bind(DI.CLASS_WITHOUT_DEPENDENCIES).toClass(MyServiceClassWithoutDependencies);

Resolve the dependencies

import { DI } from './di';

// Call the container to resolve the dependencies
const myUseCase = container.get<MyUseCaseInterface>(DI.MY_USE_CASE);

myUseCase.execute();

Code used in the examples can be found in the specs folder.

Modules

You can also use modules to organize your dependencies.

Loading modules

Modules can then be loaded in your container. By default, when you create a container, it is using a default module under the hood.

const module1 = createModule();
module1.bind(DI.DEP1).toValue('dependency1');

const module2 = createModule();
module2.bind(DI.DEP2).toValue(42);

const module3 = createModule();
module3.bind(DI.MY_SERVICE).toHigherOrderFunction(MyService, {dep1: DI.DEP1, dep2: DI.DEP2});

const container = createContainer();
container.load(Symbol('module1'), module1);
container.load(Symbol('module2'), module2);
container.load(Symbol('module3'), module3);

const myService = container.get<MyServiceInterface>(DI.MY_SERVICE);

The dependencies do not need to be registered in the same module as the one that is using them. Note that the module name used as a key is a symbol.

Modules override

You can also override dependencies of a module. The dependencies of the module will be overridden by the dependencies of the last loaded module.

const module1 = createModule();
module1.bind(DI.DEP1).toValue('OLD dependency1');
module1.bind(DI.MY_SERVICE).toFunction(sayHelloWorld);

const module2 = createModule();
module2.bind(DI.DEP1).toValue('NEW dependency1');

const module3 = createModule();
module3.bind(DI.MY_SERVICE).toHigherOrderFunction(MyService, {dep1: DI.DEP1, dep2: DI.DEP2});

const container = createContainer();
container.bind(DI.DEP2).toValue(42); // Default module
container.load(Symbol('module1'), module1);
container.load(Symbol('module2'), module2);
container.load(Symbol('module3'), module3);

// The dependency DI.MY_SERVICE will be resolved with the higher order function and dep1 will be 'NEW dependency1'
const myService = container.get<MyServiceInterface>(DI.MY_SERVICE);

Unload modules

You can also unload a module from the container. The dependencies of the module will be removed from the container. Already cached instances will be removed to keep consistency and avoid potential errors.

const module1 = createModule();
module1.bind(DI.DEP1).toValue('dependency1');

const container = createContainer();
container.load(Symbol('module1'), module1);

container.unload(Symbol('module1'));

// Will throw an error as the dependency is not registered anymore
const myService = container.get<string>(DI.DEP1); 

Using scopes

Singleton scope (default)

In singleton scope, the container returns the same instance every time a dependency is resolved.

container.bind(DI.MY_SERVICE).toClass(MyServiceClass, [DI.DEP1, DI.DEP2]);
// or
container.bind(DI.MY_SERVICE).toClass(MyServiceClass, [DI.DEP1, DI.DEP2], 'singleton');

const instance1 = container.get<MyServiceClassInterface>(DI.MY_SERVICE);
const instance2 = container.get<MyServiceClassInterface>(DI.MY_SERVICE);

console.log(instance1 === instance2); // true

Transient scope

In transient scope, the container returns a new instance every time the dependency is resolved.

container.bind(DI.MY_SERVICE).toClass(MyServiceClass, [DI.DEP1, DI.DEP2], 'transient');

const instance1 = container.get<MyServiceClassInterface>(DI.MY_SERVICE);
const instance2 = container.get<MyServiceClassInterface>(DI.MY_SERVICE);

console.log(instance1 === instance2); // false

Scoped Scope

In scoped scope, the container returns the same instance within a scope. Different scopes will have different instances.

To use the scoped scope, you need to create a scope using runInScope.

container.bind(DI.MY_SERVICE).toClass(MyServiceClass, [DI.DEP1, DI.DEP2], 'scoped');
const instance1 = undefined;
const instance2 = undefined;

container.runInScope(() => {
    instance1 = container.get<MyServiceClassInterface>(DI.MY_SERVICE);
    instance2 = container.get<MyServiceClassInterface>(DI.MY_SERVICE);

    console.log(instance1 === instance2); // true
});

container.runInScope(() => {
    const instance3 = container.get<MyServiceClassInterface>(DI.MY_SERVICE);

    console.log(instance3 === instance1); // false
});

Note: If you try to resolve a scoped dependency outside a scope, an error will be thrown.