What is the difference between call and apply?

Question

What is the difference between using call and apply to invoke a function?

var func = function() {
  alert(\'hello!\');
};
         


        

Answer 1

Even though call and apply achive the same thing, I think there is atleast one place where you cannot use call but can only use apply. That is when you want to support inheritance and want to call the constructor.

Here is a function allows you to create classes which also supports creating classes by extending other classes.

function makeClass( properties ) {
    var ctor = properties['constructor'] || function(){}
    var Super = properties['extends'];
    var Class = function () {
                 // Here 'call' cannot work, only 'apply' can!!!
                 if(Super)
                    Super.apply(this,arguments);  
                 ctor.apply(this,arguments);
                }
     if(Super){
        Class.prototype = Object.create( Super.prototype );
        Class.prototype.constructor = Class;
     }
     Object.keys(properties).forEach( function(prop) {
           if(prop!=='constructor' && prop!=='extends')
            Class.prototype[prop] = properties[prop];
     });
   return Class; 
}

//Usage
var Car = makeClass({
             constructor: function(name){
                         this.name=name;
                        },
             yourName: function() {
                     return this.name;
                   }
          });
//We have a Car class now
 var carInstance=new Car('Fiat');
carInstance.youName();// ReturnsFiat

var SuperCar = makeClass({
               constructor: function(ignore,power){
                     this.power=power;
                  },
               extends:Car,
               yourPower: function() {
                    return this.power;
                  }
              });
//We have a SuperCar class now, which is subclass of Car
var superCar=new SuperCar('BMW xy',2.6);
superCar.yourName();//Returns BMW xy
superCar.yourPower();// Returns 2.6