Difference between reference and instance in javascript

Question

Sometimes I hear people say \"a reference to a object\" and some say \"a instance of a object\" What is the difference?

Answer 1

In javascript a variable is a reference to the actual instance

    // create a new object from the Object constructor
    // and assign a reference to it called `firstObjRef`
    var firstObjectRef = new Object();

    // Give the object the property `prop`
    firstObjRef.prop = "im a property created through `firstObjRef`";


    // Create a second reference (called `secondObjRef`) to the same object
    var secondObjRef = firstObjRef;
    // this creates a reference to firstObjRef,
    // which in turn references the object

    secondObjRef.otherProp = "im a property created through `secondObjRef`";


    // We can access both properties from both references
    // This means `firstObjRef` & `secondObjRef` are the same object
    // not just copies

    firstObjRef.otherProp === secondObjRef.otherProp;
    // Returns true

This will also work if you pass a variable to a function:

    function objectChanger (obj, val) {
         // set the referenced object;s property `prop` to the referenced
         // value of `val`
         obj.prop = val;
    }

    // define a empty object outside of `objectChanger`'s scope
    var globalObject = {};

    globalObject === {}; // true

    // pass olobalObject to the function objectChanger
    objectChanger(globalObject, "Im a string");

    globalObject === {}; // false
    globalObject.prop === "Im a string"; // true