How to implement debounce in Vue2?

Option 1: Re-usable, no deps

- Recommended if needed more than once in your project

/helpers.js

export function debounce (fn, delay) {
  var timeoutID = null
  return function () {
    clearTimeout(timeoutID)
    var args = arguments
    var that = this
    timeoutID = setTimeout(function () {
      fn.apply(that, args)
    }, delay)
  }
}

/Component.vue

<script>
  import {debounce} from './helpers'

  export default {
    data () {
      return {
        input: '',
        debouncedInput: ''
      }
    },
    watch: {
      input: debounce(function (newVal) {
        this.debouncedInput = newVal
      }, 500)
    }
  }
</script>

Codepen

Option 2: In-component, also no deps

- Recommended if using once or in small project

/Component.vue

<template>
    <input type="text" v-model="input" />
</template>

<script>
  export default {
    data: {
        timeout: null,
        debouncedInput: ''
    },
    computed: {
     input: {
        get() {
          return this.debouncedInput
        },
        set(val) {
          if (this.timeout) clearTimeout(this.timeout)
          this.timeout = setTimeout(() => {
            this.debouncedInput = val
          }, 300)
        }
      }
    }
  }
</script>

Codepen

I am using debounce NPM package and implemented like this:

<input @input="debounceInput">

methods: {
    debounceInput: debounce(function (e) {
      this.$store.dispatch('updateInput', e.target.value)
    }, config.debouncers.default)
}

Using lodash and the example in the question, the implementation looks like this:

<input v-on:input="debounceInput">

methods: {
  debounceInput: _.debounce(function (e) {
    this.filterKey = e.target.value;
  }, 500)
}

Assigning debounce in methods can be trouble. So instead of this:

// Bad
methods: {
  foo: _.debounce(function(){}, 1000)
}

You may try:

// Good
created () {
  this.foo = _.debounce(function(){}, 1000);
}

It becomes an issue if you have multiple instances of a component - similar to the way data should be a function that returns an object. Each instance needs its own debounce function if they are supposed to act independently.

Here's an example of the problem:

Vue.component('counter', {
  template: '<div>{{ i }}</div>',
  data: function(){
    return { i: 0 };
  },
  methods: {
    // DON'T DO THIS
    increment: _.debounce(function(){
      this.i += 1;
    }, 1000)
  }
});


new Vue({
  el: '#app',
  mounted () {
    this.$refs.counter1.increment();
    this.$refs.counter2.increment();
  }
});

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/vue/2.5.16/vue.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/lodash.js/4.17.5/lodash.min.js"></script>

<div id="app">
  <div>Both should change from 0 to 1:</div>
  <counter ref="counter1"></counter>
  <counter ref="counter2"></counter>
</div>