Object.prototype returns empty object in Node

Question

While I execute Object.prototype in browser console, i am getting all the properties and methods available inside Object.prototype. This is as expected

Answer 1

It is because the console.log() in node use util.inspect(), which uses Object.keys() on objects, and it returns enumerable properties only. And Object.prototype contains non-enumerable properties, that is why it returns empty node.

Similar behavior can be observed in the below snippet, when we console.log(Object.prototype) it logs an empty {};

console.log(Object.prototype);

But when we explicitly define an enumerable property in Object.prototype it logs an object containing that property :

Object.defineProperty(Object.prototype, 'property1', {
  value: 42,
  enumerable : true
});
console.log(Object.prototype)

For Reference

Answer 2

By the way, you can use Object.getOwnPropertyNames if you want to know or access these properties.

> Object.getOwnPropertyNames(Object.prototype)
[ 'hasOwnProperty',
  'constructor',
  'toString',
  'toLocaleString',
  'valueOf',
  'isPrototypeOf',
  'propertyIsEnumerable',
  '__defineGetter__',
  '__lookupGetter__',
  '__defineSetter__',
  '__lookupSetter__',
  '__proto__' ]

It won't list other properties you might find in chrome dev console like scope or the value of promises. But it's good enough!