What is a Collection?

Collections are ordered sets of models. For example:

  • Model: Book - Collection: Library
  • Model: Song - Collection: Artist
  • Model: Todo item - Collection: Todo List
var Book = Backbone.Model.extend({
    initialize: function(){
        console.log("Take a look, It's in a book, A Reading Rainbow!");
    }
});

var Library = Backbone.Collection.extend({
    model: Book
});

Building a Collection

Now let’s populate our collection with some useful model data.

Book = Backbone.Model.extend({
    defaults: {
        title: 'Not specified',
        author: 'Not specified'
    },
    initialize: function() {
        console.log("Take a look, It's in a book, A Reading Rainbow!");
    }
});

var Library = Backbone.Collection.extend({
    model: Book
});

var book1 = new Book({ title: 'To Kill a Mockingbird', author: 'Harper Lee' });
var book2 = new Book({ title: '1984', author: 'George Orwell' });
var book3 = new Book({ title: 'The Lord of the Rings', author: 'J.R.R. Tolkien' });

var myLibrary = new Library([ book1, book2, book3]);
console.log( myLibrary.models ); // [book1, book2, book3]

 Next, let’s look at Views.

Digging into Backbone.js series: