Classical Vs prototypal inheritance

Question

After reading about both, I just have curiosity, how programming community uses this? In what situation which?

Answer 1

Since Javascript doesn't support "Classic" inheritance as most would understand (and you haven't given any references to what you've been reading) I'll assume you mean inheritance handled like this:-

 function base() {
    var myVar;
    this.someBaseFunc = function() { }
 }


 function derived() {
    base.call(this);
    var someOtherVar;
    this.SomeOtherFunc = function() { }
 }

My general rule of thumb is:

• If the Classes are complex and the instances are few use a "classical" approach. This allows the classes to expose publicly only those features that should be made public.
• If the Class are simple and the instances are many use a prototypal approach. This limits the overhead of defining and storing references to functions over and over again as instances are created.