JavaScript monadic timeout (jQuery plugin)

monadicTimeout.js

// Provides safe way to ensure that you only have a single timeout
// set for a particular event, in the face of browsers not always
// firing the expected events...

// Usage example:
//
//      var myTimeout = $.monadicTimeout(function() { doSomething(); }, 500);
//
//      $(".some-class").mouseenter(myTimeout.clear);
//      $(".some-class").mouseleave(myTimeout.set);
//
//  Notes: This was created to solve a common problem with hiding a menu
//         after a timed delay on mouseout. If you leave and re-enter the
//         menu before the first timeout has fired, you end up with the
//         first timeout being fired while the mouse is over the menu,
//         hiding it at the wrong time.

(function($) {
    $.extend({
        monadicTimeout: function(func, period) {
            var buffer = [];
            function clear() {
                while (buffer.length != 0) {
                    clearTimeout(buffer.shift());
                }
            }
            function set() {
                clear();
                buffer.push(setTimeout(func, period));
            }
            return {
                clear: clear,
                set: set
            };
        }
    });
}(jQuery));