(Object Oriented JavaScript: Only Two Techniques Matter)

Prerequisite:
JavaScript Objects in Detail
JavaScript Prototype

Object Oriented Programming (OOP) refers to using self-contained pieces of code to develop applications. We call these self-contained pieces of code objects, better known as Classes in most OOP programming languages and Functions in JavaScript. We use objects as building blocks for our applications. Building applications with objects allows us to adopt some valuable techniques, namely, Inheritance (objects can inherit features from other objects), Polymorphism (objects can share the same interface—how they are accessed and used—while their underlying implementation of the interface may differ), and Encapsulation (each object is responsible for specific tasks).

In this article, we are concerned with only Inheritance and Encapsulation since only these two concepts apply to OOP in JavaScript, particularly because, in JavaScript, objects can encapsulate functionalities and inherit methods and properties from other objects. Accordingly, in the rest of the article, I discuss everything you need to know about using objects in JavaScript in an object oriented manner—with inheritance and encapsulation—to easily reuse code and abstract functionalities into specialized objects.

We will focus on only the best two techniques1 for implementing OOP in JavaScript. Indeed, many techniques exist for implementing OOP in JavaScript, but rather than evaluate each, I choose to focus on the two best techniques: the best technique for creating objects with specialized functionalities (aka Encapsulation) and the best technique for reusing code (aka Inheritance).