CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptprototypeprototype-programming
Aditya Singh
Aditya Singh

Reputation: 678

How Object constructor comes in the prototype object of any function?

In the code below

function Hello(){
      //
 }

console.dir(Hello);

enter image description here

My question is:

From where and how Object comes in the prototype object of Hello ?

What is happening behind the scenes to bring Object there ?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 63

Answers (2)

raina77ow
raina77ow

Reputation: 106385

Do not confuse prototype as property of a function with its actual prototype (accessible through __proto__/getPrototypeOf() and used in name resolution mechanism, among other things).

In your example, Hello.prototype is used as a shared prototype for all the objects created with Constructor pattern: that is, when this function is invoked with new operator. And yes, this prototype is essentially an object:

function Hello() {}
console.log(Hello.prototype); // {}
console.log(Object.getPrototypeOf(Hello)); // function () { [native code] }

const newHello = new Hello();
console.log(Object.getPrototypeOf(newHello) === Hello.prototype); // true

const anotherHello = new Hello();
console.log(Object.getPrototypeOf(anotherHello) === Hello.prototype); // true
console.log(Object.getPrototypeOf(newHello) === Object.getPrototypeOf(anotherHello)); 
// apparently true as well

And that's the key idea of prototype-based object model in JS: all the things that are shared between instances are stored just once.

Note that arrow functions do not have prototype property on them (as you're not expected to use them as constructors):

const FatArrowHello = () => {};
console.log(FatArrowHello.prototype); // undefined
const newFatArrowHello = new FatArrowHello();
// VM424: 1 Uncaught TypeError: FatArrowHello is not a constructor
// at < anonymous >: 1: 18

Upvotes: 3

T.J. Crowder
T.J. Crowder

Reputation: 1074148

From where and how Object comes in the prototype object of Hello ?

It doesn't, but that console display does make it seem like that. The prototype of the object on Hello.prototype is actually Object.prototype, not Object:

function Hello() {
}
console.dir(Hello);
console.log(Hello.prototype.__proto__ === Object); // false
console.log(Hello.prototype.__proto__ === Object.prototype); // true

The console is showing Object there as the type (loosely speaking) of Hello.prototype.__proto__, not as its value.

(Note: I've used __proto__ above because that's how the console was showing it to you in your example, but I strongly recommend not using the __proto__ accessor in code. Use Object.getPrototypeOf instead.)

I think you know this, but for completeness: The reason that Hello.prototype's prototype is Object.prototype is that the prototype property of a traditional function (and class constructors) is created by the JavaScript engine when it creates the function. For traditional functions and base classes, that prototype object is created as though with an object literal: {}. So that object has Object.prototype as its prototype. (Classes using extends work slightly differently.)

Upvotes: 1

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