A handy method for Backbone views to execute an update method on requestAnimationFrame, eg. this.requestFrame('render');

backbone.view.rAF.js

/**
 * Execute a Backbone View method or function at next animation frame, while 
 * correctly handling multiple requests.
 *
 * Caveat: only one anonymous function can be used at a time.  Use a named function or method name.
 *
 * @example (from a Backbone view):
 *
 *     this.requestFrame('render')          // execute method render of current object
 *     this.requestFrame(this.render)       // same as above
 *     this.requestFrame(function blah(){}, this) // execute immediate named function in 'this' context
 *
 * IE8, IE9: require a good requestAnimationFrame shim, eg, https://gist.github.com/paulirish/1579671
 * Inspiration: http://www.paulirish.com/2011/requestanimationframe-for-smart-animating/
 *
 * MIT License
 */

!function(){

  _.extend(Backbone.View.prototype, {

    __frameTicks : {},

    /**
	 * @param fn {string|function} - method name in current class to execute or a function
	 * @param [context=this] {object} - context in which to execute fn
	 * @param args... - additional arguments to pass to method
	 * @return {number} request id
	 */
    requestFrame: function(fn, context /*, args */ ){
      var
        handler = fn,
        name = _.isString(fn) ? (handler = this[fn], fn)
          : fn && fn.name ? fn.name
          : '__anonymous_fn__',
        ticks = this.__frameTicks,
        args = _(arguments).rest(2), // drop first two
        self = this;

      // return if already requested
      if (name in ticks && ticks[name]) return;

      return ticks[ name ] = window.requestAnimationFrame(function(){
        // reset ticking flag
        delete ticks[ name ];

        // execute function
        handler.apply(context || self, args);
      });
    }
  });

)();