JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 6th Edition

Java-Style Classes in JavaScript

If you have programmed in Java or a similar strongly-typed object-oriented language, you may be accustomed to thinking about four kinds of class members:

Instance fields

These are the per-instance properties or variables that hold the state of individual objects.

Instance methods

These are methods that are shared by all instances of the class that are invoked through individual instances.

Class fields

These are properties or variables associated with the class rather than the instances of the class.

Class methods

These are methods that are associated with the class rather than with instances.

One way JavaScript differs from Java is that its functions are values, and there is no hard distinction between methods and fields. If the value of a property is a function, that property defines a method; otherwise, it is just an ordinary property or “field.” Despite this difference, we can simulate each of Java’s four categories of class members in JavaScript. In JavaScript, there are three different objects involved in any class definition (see Figure 9-1), and the properties of these three objects act like different kinds of class members:

Constructor object

As we’ve noted, the constructor function (an object) defines a name for a JavaScript class. Properties you add to this constructor object serve as class fields and class methods (depending on whether the property values are functions or not).

Prototype object

The properties of this object are inherited by all instances ...