Basic JavaScript Prototype and Inheritance Example for Animals

Question

I\'m trying to grasp OOP with JavaScript with very simple examples.

My goal is to create a class hierarchy with Animals as the example.

In a simplified anim

Answer 1

You want to make use of Prototypical Inheritance, which in Javascript is a bit awkward but powerful.

function Animal(name) {
   this.name = name;
}

// Example method on the Animal object
Animal.prototype.getName = function() {
    return this.name;
}

function Mammal(name, hasHair) {
    // Use the parent constructor and set the correct `this`
    Animal.call(this, name);

    this.hasHair = hasHair;
}

// Inherit the Animal prototype
Mammal.prototype = Object.create(Animal.prototype);

// Set the Mammal constructor to 'Mammal'
Mammal.prototype.constructor = Mammal;

Mammal.prototype.getHasHair = function() {
    return this.hasHair;
}

function Dog(name, breed) {
    // Use the parent constructor and set the correct `this`
    // Assume the dog has hair
    Mammal.call(this, name, true);

    this.breed = breed;
}

// Inherit the Mammal prototype
Dog.prototype = Object.create(Mammal.prototype);

// Set the Dog constructor to 'Dog'
Dog.prototype.constructor = Dog;

Dog.prototype.getBreed = function() {
    return this.breed;
}

var fido = new Dog('Fido', 'Lab');

fido.getName();  // 'Fido'
fido.getHasHair(); // true
fido.getBreed(); // 'Lab'

A good resource to OOP in Javascript can be found on Mozilla Developer Network