Better solution for nested Backbone.js collections
backbone.js, nested-attributes
Solution
I don't see any problem with your approach.
IMHO the `Model.parse()` method if for this: to be overwritten in case special parse behavior needs.
The only think I'd change would be things like this:
if (res.tags) res.tags = new ACME.Tags(res.tags);
For this:
if (res.tags) this.tags.reset(res.tags);
Due you already have an instance of `ACME.Tags` collection I'd reuse it.
Also I don't really like the `defaults` implementation, I'm used to do this initializations in the `Model.initialize()` but I think is a matter of taste.
Problem
Many of my Backbone models often deal with nested models and collections, so far I'm using a combination of `defaults`, `parse` and `toJSON` manually to achieve nesting: ``` ACME.Supplier = Backbone.Model.extend({ defaults: function() { return { contacts: new ACME.Contacts(), tags: new ACME.Tags(), attachments: new ACME.Attachments() }; }, parse: function(res) { if (res.contacts) res.contacts = new ACME.Contacts(res.contacts); if (res.tags) res.tags = new ACME.Tags(res.tags); if (res.attachments) res.attachments = new ACME.Attachments(res.attachments); return res; } }); ACME.Tag = Backbone.Model.extend({ toJSON: function() { return _.pick(this.attributes, 'id', 'name', 'type'); } }); ``` I've looked at a few plugins out there that basically does the same as above but with a lot less control and more boilerplate, so I'm wondering if anyone has a more elegant solution to this common Backbone.js problem. Edit: I ended up with the following approach: ``` ACME.Supplier = Backbone.Model.extend({ initialize: function(options) { this.tags = new ACME.Tags(options.tags); }, parse: function(res) { res.tags && this.tags.reset(res.tags); return res; } }); ACME.Tag = Backbone.Model.extend({ toJSON: function() { return _.pick(this.attributes, 'id', 'name', 'type'); } }); ``` It is worth noting that later I discovered that you'll need to pass nested model/collection data from the constructor into the constructor of the nested model via the `options` object.