Reflect.getPrototypeOf()

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since September 2016.

The Reflect.getPrototypeOf() static method is like Object.getPrototypeOf(). It returns the prototype of the specified object.

Try it

Syntax

js
Reflect.getPrototypeOf(target)

Parameters

target

The target object of which to get the prototype.

Return value

The prototype of the given object, which may be an object or null.

Exceptions

TypeError

Thrown if target is not an object.

Description

Reflect.getPrototypeOf() provides the reflective semantic of retrieving the prototype of an object. The only difference with Object.getPrototypeOf() is how non-object targets are handled. Reflect.getPrototypeOf() throws a TypeError if the target is not an object, while Object.getPrototypeOf() coerces it to an object.

Reflect.getPrototypeOf() invokes the [[GetPrototypeOf]] object internal method of target.

Examples

Using Reflect.getPrototypeOf()

js
Reflect.getPrototypeOf({}); // Object.prototype
Reflect.getPrototypeOf(Object.prototype); // null
Reflect.getPrototypeOf(Object.create(null)); // null

Difference with Object.getPrototypeOf()

js
// Same result for Objects
Object.getPrototypeOf({}); // Object.prototype
Reflect.getPrototypeOf({}); // Object.prototype

// Both throw in ES5 for non-Objects
Object.getPrototypeOf("foo"); // Throws TypeError
Reflect.getPrototypeOf("foo"); // Throws TypeError

// In ES2015 only Reflect throws, Object coerces non-Objects
Object.getPrototypeOf("foo"); // String.prototype
Reflect.getPrototypeOf("foo"); // Throws TypeError

// To mimic the Object ES2015 behavior you need to coerce
Reflect.getPrototypeOf(Object("foo")); // String.prototype

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript Language Specification
# sec-reflect.getprototypeof

Browser compatibility

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See also