Object.prototype.isPrototypeOf()
Baseline Widely available
This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.
The isPrototypeOf()
method of Object
instances checks if this object exists in another object's prototype chain.
Note: isPrototypeOf()
differs from the instanceof
operator. In the expression object instanceof AFunction
, object
's prototype chain is checked against AFunction.prototype
, not against AFunction
itself.
Try it
Syntax
isPrototypeOf(object)
Parameters
object
-
The object whose prototype chain will be searched.
Return value
A boolean indicating whether the calling object (this
) lies in the prototype chain of object
. Directly returns false
when object
is not an object (i.e. a primitive).
Exceptions
TypeError
-
Thrown if
this
isnull
orundefined
(because it can't be converted to an object).
Description
All objects that inherit from Object.prototype
(that is, all except null
-prototype objects) inherit the isPrototypeOf()
method. This method allows you to check whether or not the object exists within another object's prototype chain. If the object
passed as the parameter is not an object (i.e. a primitive), the method directly returns false
. Otherwise, the this
value is converted to an object, and the prototype chain of object
is searched for the this
value, until the end of the chain is reached or the this
value is found.
Examples
Using isPrototypeOf()
This example demonstrates that Baz.prototype
, Bar.prototype
, Foo.prototype
and Object.prototype
exist in the prototype chain for object baz
:
class Foo {}
class Bar extends Foo {}
class Baz extends Bar {}
const foo = new Foo();
const bar = new Bar();
const baz = new Baz();
// prototype chains:
// foo: Foo --> Object
// bar: Bar --> Foo --> Object
// baz: Baz --> Bar --> Foo --> Object
console.log(Baz.prototype.isPrototypeOf(baz)); // true
console.log(Baz.prototype.isPrototypeOf(bar)); // false
console.log(Baz.prototype.isPrototypeOf(foo)); // false
console.log(Bar.prototype.isPrototypeOf(baz)); // true
console.log(Bar.prototype.isPrototypeOf(foo)); // false
console.log(Foo.prototype.isPrototypeOf(baz)); // true
console.log(Foo.prototype.isPrototypeOf(bar)); // true
console.log(Object.prototype.isPrototypeOf(baz)); // true
The isPrototypeOf()
method — along with the instanceof
operator — comes in particularly handy if you have code that can only function when dealing with objects descended from a specific prototype chain; e.g., to guarantee that certain methods or properties will be present on that object.
For example, to execute some code that's only safe to run if a baz
object has Foo.prototype
in its prototype chain, you can do this:
if (Foo.prototype.isPrototypeOf(baz)) {
// do something safe
}
However, Foo.prototype
existing in baz
's prototype chain doesn't imply baz
was created using Foo
as its constructor. For example, baz
could be directly assigned with Foo.prototype
as its prototype. In this case, if your code reads private fields of Foo
from baz
, it would still fail:
class Foo {
#value = "foo";
static getValue(x) {
return x.#value;
}
}
const baz = { __proto__: Foo.prototype };
if (Foo.prototype.isPrototypeOf(baz)) {
console.log(Foo.getValue(baz)); // TypeError: Cannot read private member #value from an object whose class did not declare it
}
The same applies to instanceof
. If you need to read private fields in a secure way, offer a branded check method using in
instead.
class Foo {
#value = "foo";
static getValue(x) {
return x.#value;
}
static isFoo(x) {
return #value in x;
}
}
const baz = { __proto__: Foo.prototype };
if (Foo.isFoo(baz)) {
// Doesn't run, because baz is not a Foo
console.log(Foo.getValue(baz));
}
Specifications
Specification |
---|
ECMAScript Language Specification # sec-object.prototype.isprototypeof |
Browser compatibility
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