How to get a JavaScript object's class?

Question

I created a JavaScript object, but how I can determine the class of that object?

I want something similar to Java\'s .getClass() method.

Answer 1

In keeping with its unbroken record of backwards-compatibility, ECMAScript 6, JavaScript still doesn't have a class type (though not everyone understands this). It does have a class keyword as part of its class syntax for creating prototypes—but still no thing called class. JavaScript is not now and has never been a classical OOP language. Speaking of JS in terms of class is only either misleading or a sign of not yet grokking prototypical inheritance (just keeping it real).

That means this.constructor is still a great way to get a reference to the constructor function. And this.constructor.prototype is the way to access the prototype itself. Since this isn't Java, it's not a class. It's the prototype object your instance was instantiated from. Here is an example using the ES6 syntactic sugar for creating a prototype chain:

class Foo {
  get foo () {
    console.info(this.constructor, this.constructor.name)
    return 'foo'
  }
}

class Bar extends Foo {
  get foo () {
    console.info('[THIS]', this.constructor, this.constructor.name, Object.getOwnPropertyNames(this.constructor.prototype))
    console.info('[SUPER]', super.constructor, super.constructor.name, Object.getOwnPropertyNames(super.constructor.prototype))

    return `${super.foo} + bar`
  }
}

const bar = new Bar()
console.dir(bar.foo)

This is what that outputs using babel-node:

> $ babel-node ./foo.js                                                                                                                   ⬡ 6.2.0 [±master ●]
[THIS] [Function: Bar] 'Bar' [ 'constructor', 'foo' ]
[SUPER] [Function: Foo] 'Foo' [ 'constructor', 'foo' ]
[Function: Bar] 'Bar'
'foo + bar'

There you have it! In 2016, there's a class keyword in JavaScript, but still no class type. this.constructor is the best way to get the constructor function, this.constructor.prototype the best way to get access to the prototype itself.