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Performance impact with many instances of a class

I have some old code that I would like to refactor and improve, currently the code looks something like this:
function objFunction1(obj){
//do something
console.log(obj, 1);
}
function objFunction2(obj){
//do something else
console.log(obj, 2)
}
var obj = {test: true};
objFunction1(obj);
objFunction2(obj);
I am thinking of makeing it into a class eg:
class item{
constructor(test){
this.test = test;
return this;
}
function1(){
console.log(this, 1);
}
function2(){
console.log(this, 2);
}
}
var obj = new item(true);
obj.function1();
obj.function2();
How does JavaScript handle this? if I was to have 10,000 instances of item does JavaScript duplicate those methods for each instance or does it just store a reference to the class declaration?
what I am basically asking, is my original code more efficient?

If you have 100000 or any number of objects, but function1 and function2 will have only single copy in its prototype
Since class syntax is just syntactic sugar over the old function constructor. When you write above class syntax then the methods are declared in the prototype of that class and you can verify it as:
const obj1 = new item(true);
const obj2 = new item(false);
obj1.function1 === obj2.function1;
If obj1.function1 === obj2.function1 expression returns true then that means, there is only one function that is defined in its prototype
You should read docs
class item {
constructor(test) {
this.test = test;
return this;
}
function1() {
console.log(this, 1);
}
function2() {
console.log(this, 2);
}
}
const obj1 = new item(true);
const obj2 = new item(false);
console.log(obj1.function1 === obj2.function1); // true
Note: I've capitalize the first-letter of constructor function that externally specifies that it is a constructor function. It is just a convention used in JS community
The above class syntax will be equal to the following function constructor syntax as:
function function1() {
console.log(this, 1);
}
function function2() {
console.log(this, 2);
}
function Item(test) {
this.test = test;
}
Item.prototype.function1 = function1;
Item.prototype.function2 = function2;
const obj1 = new Item(true);
const obj2 = new Item(false);
console.log(obj1);
console.log(obj2);
console.log(obj1.function1 === obj2.function1);

The short answer is: no.
The functions would not be duplicated; only one definition for each function would be created as the objects' prototype.
JavaScript uses prototype-based inheritance, which means that objects have a prototype that "contain" the methods shared by all the objects from the same prototype:
JavaScript is often described as a prototype-based language — to
provide inheritance, objects can have a prototype object, which acts
as a template object that it inherits methods and properties from.
(source: Mozilla)
If you declare two objects using the same "class" you can see that their instances are different but the methods are the same
var objA = new item(true);
var objB = new item(true);
objA === objB // false
objA.function1 === objA.function // true
You can access to the prototype of the object by using the somewhat deprecated (but still supported by Chrome) __proto__ property:
objA.__proto__ === objB.__proto__ // true
So in terms of both memory and execution time, the two options are probably nearly identical.

in javascript which way is better for check variable types [duplicate]

I created a JavaScript object, but how I can determine the class of that object?
I want something similar to Java's .getClass() method.

There's no exact counterpart to Java's getClass() in JavaScript. Mostly that's due to JavaScript being a prototype-based language, as opposed to Java being a class-based one.
Depending on what you need getClass() for, there are several options in JavaScript:
typeof
instanceof
obj.constructor
func.prototype, proto.isPrototypeOf
A few examples:
function Foo() {}
var foo = new Foo();
typeof Foo; // == "function"
typeof foo; // == "object"
foo instanceof Foo; // == true
foo.constructor.name; // == "Foo"
Foo.name // == "Foo"
Foo.prototype.isPrototypeOf(foo); // == true
Foo.prototype.bar = function (x) {return x+x;};
foo.bar(21); // == 42
Note: if you are compiling your code with Uglify it will change non-global class names. To prevent this, Uglify has a --mangle param that you can set to false is using gulp or grunt.

obj.constructor.name
is a reliable method in modern browsers. Function.name was officially added to the standard in ES6, making this a standards-compliant means of getting the "class" of a JavaScript object as a string. If the object is instantiated with var obj = new MyClass(), it will return "MyClass".
It will return "Number" for numbers, "Array" for arrays and "Function" for functions, etc. It generally behaves as expected. The only cases where it fails are if an object is created without a prototype, via Object.create( null ), or the object was instantiated from an anonymously-defined (unnamed) function.
Also note that if you are minifying your code, it's not safe to compare against hard-coded type strings. For example instead of checking if obj.constructor.name == "MyType", instead check obj.constructor.name == MyType.name. Or just compare the constructors themselves, however this won't work across DOM boundaries as there are different instances of the constructor function on each DOM, thus doing an object comparison on their constructors won't work.

This getNativeClass() function returns "undefined" for undefined values and "null" for null.For all other values, the CLASSNAME-part is extracted from [object CLASSNAME], which is the result of using Object.prototype.toString.call(value).
getAnyClass() behaves the same as getNativeClass(), but also supports custom constructors
function getNativeClass(obj) {
if (typeof obj === "undefined") return "undefined";
if (obj === null) return "null";
return Object.prototype.toString.call(obj).match(/^\[object\s(.*)\]$/)[1];
}
function getAnyClass(obj) {
if (typeof obj === "undefined") return "undefined";
if (obj === null) return "null";
return obj.constructor.name;
}
getClass("") === "String";
getClass(true) === "Boolean";
getClass(0) === "Number";
getClass([]) === "Array";
getClass({}) === "Object";
getClass(null) === "null";
getAnyClass(new (function Foo(){})) === "Foo";
getAnyClass(new class Foo{}) === "Foo";
// etc...

We can read Class's name of an instance by just doing 'instance.constructor.name' like in this example:
class Person {
type = "developer";
}
let p = new Person();
p.constructor.name // Person

To get the "pseudo class", you can get the constructor function, by
obj.constructor
assuming the constructor is set correctly when you do the inheritance -- which is by something like:
Dog.prototype = new Animal();
Dog.prototype.constructor = Dog;
and these two lines, together with:
var woofie = new Dog()
will make woofie.constructor point to Dog. Note that Dog is a constructor function, and is a Function object. But you can do if (woofie.constructor === Dog) { ... }.
If you want to get the class name as a string, I found the following working well:
http://blog.magnetiq.com/post/514962277/finding-out-class-names-of-javascript-objects
function getObjectClass(obj) {
if (obj && obj.constructor && obj.constructor.toString) {
var arr = obj.constructor.toString().match(
/function\s*(\w+)/);
if (arr && arr.length == 2) {
return arr[1];
}
}
return undefined;
}
It gets to the constructor function, converts it to string, and extracts the name of the constructor function.
Note that obj.constructor.name could have worked well, but it is not standard. It is on Chrome and Firefox, but not on IE, including IE 9 or IE 10 RTM.

You can get a reference to the constructor function which created the object by using the constructor property:
function MyObject(){
}
var obj = new MyObject();
obj.constructor; // MyObject
If you need to confirm the type of an object at runtime you can use the instanceof operator:
obj instanceof MyObject // true

i had a situation to work generic now and used this:
class Test {
// your class definition
}
nameByType = function(type){
return type.prototype["constructor"]["name"];
};
console.log(nameByType(Test));
thats the only way i found to get the class name by type input if you don't have a instance of an object.
(written in ES2017)
dot notation also works fine
console.log(Test.prototype.constructor.name); // returns "Test"

In keeping with its unbroken record of backwards-compatibility, ECMAScript 6, JavaScript still doesn't have a class type (though not everyone understands this). It does have a class keyword as part of its class syntax for creating prototypes—but still no thing called class. JavaScript is not now and has never been a classical OOP language. Speaking of JS in terms of class is only either misleading or a sign of not yet grokking prototypical inheritance (just keeping it real).
That means this.constructor is still a great way to get a reference to the constructor function. And this.constructor.prototype is the way to access the prototype itself. Since this isn't Java, it's not a class. It's the prototype object your instance was instantiated from. Here is an example using the ES6 syntactic sugar for creating a prototype chain:
class Foo {
get foo () {
console.info(this.constructor, this.constructor.name)
return 'foo'
}
}
class Bar extends Foo {
get foo () {
console.info('[THIS]', this.constructor, this.constructor.name, Object.getOwnPropertyNames(this.constructor.prototype))
console.info('[SUPER]', super.constructor, super.constructor.name, Object.getOwnPropertyNames(super.constructor.prototype))
return `${super.foo} + bar`
}
}
const bar = new Bar()
console.dir(bar.foo)
This is what that outputs using babel-node:
> $ babel-node ./foo.js ⬡ 6.2.0 [±master ●]
[THIS] [Function: Bar] 'Bar' [ 'constructor', 'foo' ]
[SUPER] [Function: Foo] 'Foo' [ 'constructor', 'foo' ]
[Function: Bar] 'Bar'
'foo + bar'
There you have it! In 2016, there's a class keyword in JavaScript, but still no class type. this.constructor is the best way to get the constructor function, this.constructor.prototype the best way to get access to the prototype itself.

For Javascript Classes in ES6 you can use object.constructor. In the example class below the getClass() method returns the ES6 class as you would expect:
var Cat = class {
meow() {
console.log("meow!");
}
getClass() {
return this.constructor;
}
}
var fluffy = new Cat();
...
var AlsoCat = fluffy.getClass();
var ruffles = new AlsoCat();
ruffles.meow(); // "meow!"
If you instantiate the class from the getClass method make sure you wrap it in brackets e.g. ruffles = new ( fluffy.getClass() )( args... );

If you need to not only GET class but also EXTEND it from having just an instance, write:
let's have
class A{
constructor(name){
this.name = name
}
};
const a1 = new A('hello a1');
so to extend A having the instance only use:
const a2 = new (Object.getPrototypeOf(a1)).constructor('hello from a2')
// the analog of const a2 = new A()
console.log(a2.name)//'hello from a2'

I find object.constructor.toString() return [object objectClass] in IE ,rather than function objectClass () {} returned in chome. So,I think the code in http://blog.magnetiq.com/post/514962277/finding-out-class-names-of-javascript-objects may not work well in IE.And I fixed the code as follows:
code:
var getObjectClass = function (obj) {
if (obj && obj.constructor && obj.constructor.toString()) {
/*
* for browsers which have name property in the constructor
* of the object,such as chrome
*/
if(obj.constructor.name) {
return obj.constructor.name;
}
var str = obj.constructor.toString();
/*
* executed if the return of object.constructor.toString() is
* "[object objectClass]"
*/
if(str.charAt(0) == '[')
{
var arr = str.match(/\[\w+\s*(\w+)\]/);
} else {
/*
* executed if the return of object.constructor.toString() is
* "function objectClass () {}"
* for IE Firefox
*/
var arr = str.match(/function\s*(\w+)/);
}
if (arr && arr.length == 2) {
return arr[1];
}
}
return undefined;
};

In javascript, there are no classes, but I think that you want the constructor name and obj.constructor.toString() will tell you what you need.

getClass() function using constructor.prototype.name
I found a way to access the class that is much cleaner than some of the solutions above; here it is.
function getClass(obj) {
// if the type is not an object return the type
if((let type = typeof obj) !== 'object') return type;
//otherwise, access the class using obj.constructor.name
else return obj.constructor.name;
}
How it works
the constructor has a property called name accessing that will give you the class name.
cleaner version of the code:
function getClass(obj) {
// if the type is not an object return the type
let type = typeof obj
if((type !== 'object')) {
return type;
} else { //otherwise, access the class using obj.constructor.name
return obj.constructor.name;
}
}

Agree with dfa, that's why i consider the prototye as the class when no named class found
Here is an upgraded function of the one posted by Eli Grey, to match my way of mind
function what(obj){
if(typeof(obj)==="undefined")return "undefined";
if(obj===null)return "Null";
var res = Object.prototype.toString.call(obj).match(/^\[object\s(.*)\]$/)[1];
if(res==="Object"){
res = obj.constructor.name;
if(typeof(res)!='string' || res.length==0){
if(obj instanceof jQuery)return "jQuery";// jQuery build stranges Objects
if(obj instanceof Array)return "Array";// Array prototype is very sneaky
return "Object";
}
}
return res;
}

Here's a implementation of getClass() and getInstance()
You are able to get a reference for an Object's class using this.constructor.
From an instance context:
function A() {
this.getClass = function() {
return this.constructor;
}
this.getNewInstance = function() {
return new this.constructor;
}
}
var a = new A();
console.log(a.getClass()); // function A { // etc... }
// you can even:
var b = new (a.getClass());
console.log(b instanceof A); // true
var c = a.getNewInstance();
console.log(c instanceof A); // true
From static context:
function A() {};
A.getClass = function() {
return this;
}
A.getInstance() {
return new this;
}

Don't use o.constructor because it can be changed by the object content. Instead, use Object.getPrototypeOf()?.constructor.
const fakedArray = JSON.parse('{ "constructor": { "name": "Array" } }');
// returns 'Array', which is faked.
fakedArray.constructor.name;
// returns 'Object' as expected
Object.getPrototypeOf(fakedArray)?.constructor?.name;

I suggest using Object.prototype.constructor.name:
Object.defineProperty(Object.prototype, "getClass", {
value: function() {
return this.constructor.name;
}
});
var x = new DOMParser();
console.log(x.getClass()); // `DOMParser'
var y = new Error("");
console.log(y.getClass()); // `Error'

You can also do something like this
class Hello {
constructor(){
}
}
function isClass (func) {
return typeof func === 'function' && /^class\s/.test(Function.prototype.toString.call(func))
}
console.log(isClass(Hello))
This will tell you if the input is class or not

If you have access to an instance of the class Foo (say foo = new Foo()) then there is exactly one way to get access to the the class from the instance: foo.Contructor in Javascript = foo.getClass() in Java.
eval() is another way, but since eval() is never recommended and works for everything (analogous to Java reflection), that answer is not recommended. foo.Constructor = Foo

Javascript is a class-less languages: there are no classes that defines the behaviour of a class statically as in Java. JavaScript uses prototypes instead of classes for defining object properties, including methods, and inheritance. It is possible to simulate many class-based features with prototypes in JavaScript.

Question seems already answered but the OP wants to access the class of and object, just like we do in Java and the selected answer is not enough (imho).
With the following explanation, we can get a class of an object(it's actually called prototype in javascript).
var arr = new Array('red', 'green', 'blue');
var arr2 = new Array('white', 'black', 'orange');
You can add a property like this:
Object.defineProperty(arr,'last', {
get: function(){
return this[this.length -1];
}
});
console.log(arr.last) // blue
But .last property will only be available to 'arr' object which is instantiated from Array prototype. So, in order to have the .last property to be available for all objects instantiated from Array prototype, we have to define the .last property for Array prototype:
Object.defineProperty(Array.prototype,'last', {
get: function(){
return this[this.length -1];
}
});
console.log(arr.last) // blue
console.log(arr2.last) // orange
The problem here is, you have to know which object type (prototype) the 'arr' and 'arr2' variables belongs to! In other words, if you don't know class type (prototype) of the 'arr' object, then you won't be able to define a property for them. In the above example, we know arr is instance of the Array object, that's why we used Array.prototype to define a property for Array. But what if we didn't know the class(prototype) of the 'arr'?
Object.defineProperty(arr.__proto__,'last2', {
get: function(){
return this[this.length -1];
}
});
console.log(arr.last) // blue
console.log(arr2.last) // orange
As you can see, without knowing that 'arr' is an Array, we can add a new property just bu referring the class of the 'arr' by using 'arr.__proto__'.
We accessed the prototype of the 'arr' without knowing that it's an instance of Array and I think that's what OP asked.

There is one another technique to identify your class
You can store ref to your class in instance like below.
class MyClass {
static myStaticProperty = 'default';
constructor() {
this.__class__ = new.target;
this.showStaticProperty = function() {
console.log(this.__class__.myStaticProperty);
}
}
}
class MyChildClass extends MyClass {
static myStaticProperty = 'custom';
}
let myClass = new MyClass();
let child = new MyChildClass();
myClass.showStaticProperty(); // default
child.showStaticProperty(); // custom
myClass.__class__ === MyClass; // true
child.__class__ === MyClass; // false
child.__class__ === MyChildClass; // true

How to call a constructor with dynamic amount of arguments?

I have a constructor and I don't know the number of arguments it needs, for instance:
function someCtor(a,b,c){
var that = this;
that.a = a;
that.b = b;
that.c = c;
}
I need to create a function which will return the instance of that constructor with a dynamic amount of arguments:
function makeNew(ctor, arguments){
// this doesn't work, but it shows what I'm trying to achieve
return new ctor.apply(arguments);
}
I want to use the function to pass the dynamic arguments to the constructor like below:
var instanceOfCtor = makeNew(someCtor, [5,6,7]);
How to implement this function?

Note: See the ES2015 compatibility note at the end.
You do it by first creating an object setting its underlying prototype to the object the prototype property on the constructor refers to via Object.create, then calling the constructor via Function#apply:
function makeNew(ctor, arguments){
var obj = Object.create(ctor.prototype);
var rv = ctor.apply(obj, arguments);
return rv && typeof rv === "object" ? rv : obj;
}
Note the bit of fiddling at the end, so we're emulating the new operator correctly: When you call a constructor via new, if it returns a non-null object reference, that ends up being the result of the new expression; if it returns anything else (or nothing), the object created by new is the result. So we emulate that.
Even on pre-ES5 browsers, you can emulate enough of Object.create to do that:
if (!Object.create) {
Object.create = function(proto, props) {
if (typeof props !== "undefined") {
throw new Error("The second argument of Object.create cannot be shimmed.");
}
function ctor() { }
ctor.prototype = proto;
return new ctor;
};
}
ES2015 Compatibility Note
If the constructor you're calling was created via ES2015's class syntax, the above won't work, because you can't call ES2015 class constructors that way. For example:
class Example {
constructor(a, b) {
this.a = a;
this.b = b;
}
}
const e = Object.create(Example.prototype);
Example.apply(e, [1, 2]); // TypeError: Class constructor Example cannot be invoked without 'new' (or similar)
The good news is that will only happen on an ES2015+-compatible JavaScript engine, and only if the constructor was created via class; the bad news is that it can happen.
So how do you make your makeNew bulletproof?
It turns out this is quite easy, because ES2015 also added Reflect.construct, which does exactly what you want makeNew to do but does it in a way that's compatible with both class constructors and function constructors. So you can feature-detect Reflect.construct and use it if it's present (ES2015 JavaScript engine, so a constructor might have been created with class) and fall back to the above if it's not there (pre-ES2015 engine, there won't be any class constructors around):
var makeNew; // `var` because we have to avoid any ES2015+ syntax
if (typeof Reflect === "object" && Reflect && typeof Reflect.construct === "function") {
// This is an ES2015-compatible JavaScript engine, use `Reflect.construct`
makeNew = Reflect.construct;
} else {
makeNew = function makeNew(ctor, arguments){
var obj = Object.create(ctor.prototype);
var rv = ctor.apply(obj, arguments);
return rv && typeof rv === "object" ? rv : obj;
};
}
That's pure ES5 syntax, so runs on ES5 engines, but uses ES2015's Reflect.construct if it's present.

How to check if a variable is an ES6 class declaration?

I am exporting the following ES6 class from one module:
export class Thingy {
hello() {
console.log("A");
}
world() {
console.log("B");
}
}
And importing it from another module:
import {Thingy} from "thingy";
if (isClass(Thingy)) {
// Do something...
}
How can I check whether a variable is a class? Not a class instance, but a class declaration?
In other words, how would I implement the isClass function in the example above?

If you want to ensure that the value is not only a function, but really a constructor function for a class, you can convert the function to a string and inspect its representation. The spec dictates the string representation of a class constructor.
function isClass(v) {
return typeof v === 'function' && /^\s*class\s+/.test(v.toString());
}
Another solution would be to try to call the value as a normal function. Class constructors are not callable as normal functions, but error messages probably vary between browsers:
function isClass(v) {
if (typeof v !== 'function') {
return false;
}
try {
v();
return false;
} catch(error) {
if (/^Class constructor/.test(error.message)) {
return true;
}
return false;
}
}
The disadvantage is that invoking the function can have all kinds of unknown side effects...

I'll make it clear up front here, any arbitrary function can be a constructor. If you are distinguishing between "class" and "function", you are making poor API design choices. If you assume something must be a class for instance, no-one using Babel or Typescript will be be detected as a class because their code will have been converted to a function instead. It means you are mandating that anyone using your codebase must be running in an ES6 environment in general, so your code will be unusable on older environments.
Your options here are limited to implementation-defined behavior. In ES6, once code is parsed and the syntax is processed, there isn't much class-specific behavior left. All you have is a constructor function. Your best choice is to do
if (typeof Thingy === 'function'){
// It's a function, so it definitely can't be an instance.
} else {
// It could be anything other than a constructor
}
and if someone needs to do a non-constructor function, expose a separate API for that.
Obviously that is not the answer you are looking for, but it's important to make that clear.
As the other answer here mentions, you do have an option because .toString() on functions is required to return a class declaration, e.g.
class Foo {}
Foo.toString() === "class Foo {}" // true
The key thing, however, is that that only applies if it can. It is 100% spec compliant for an implementation to have
class Foo{}
Foo.toString() === "throw SyntaxError();"
No browsers currently do that, but there are several embedded systems that focus on JS programming for instance, and to preserve memory for your program itself, they discard the source code once it has been parsed, meaning they will have no source code to return from .toString() and that is allowed.
Similarly, by using .toString() you are making assumptions about both future-proofing, and general API design. Say you do
const isClass = fn => /^\s*class/.test(fn.toString());
because this relies on string representations, it could easily break.
Take decorators for example:
#decorator class Foo {}
Foo.toString() == ???
Does the .toString() of this include the decorator? What if the decorator itself returns a function instead of a class?

Checking the prototype and its writability should allow to determine the type of function without stringifying, calling or instantiating the input.
/**
* determine if a variable is a class definition or function (and what kind)
* #revised
*/
function isFunction(x) {
return typeof x === 'function'
? x.prototype
? Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(x, 'prototype').writable
? 'function'
: 'class'
: x.constructor.name === 'AsyncFunction'
? 'async'
: 'arrow'
: '';
}
console.log({
string: isFunction('foo'), // => ''
null: isFunction(null), // => ''
class: isFunction(class C {}), // => 'class'
function: isFunction(function f() {}), // => 'function'
arrow: isFunction(() => {}), // => 'arrow'
async: isFunction(async function () {}) // => 'async'
});

There are subtle differences between a function and a class, and we can take this advantage to distinguish between them, the following is my implementation:
// is "class" or "function"?
function isClass(obj) {
// if not a function, return false.
if (typeof obj !== 'function') return false;
// ⭐ is a function, has a `prototype`, and can't be deleted!
// ⭐ although a function's prototype is writable (can be reassigned),
// it's not configurable (can't update property flags), so it
// will remain writable.
//
// ⭐ a class's prototype is non-writable.
//
// Table: property flags of function/class prototype
// ---------------------------------
// prototype write enum config
// ---------------------------------
// function v . .
// class . . .
// ---------------------------------
const descriptor = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(obj, 'prototype');
// ❗functions like `Promise.resolve` do have NO `prototype`.
// (I have no idea why this is happening, sorry.)
if (!descriptor) return false;
return !descriptor.writable;
}
Here are some test cases:
class A { }
function F(name) { this.name = name; }
isClass(F), // ❌ false
isClass(3), // ❌ false
isClass(Promise.resolve), // ❌ false
isClass(A), // ✅ true
isClass(Object), // ✅ true

What about:
function isClass(v) {
return typeof v === 'function' && v.prototype.constructor === v;
}

This solution fixes two false positives with Felix's answer:
It works with anonymous classes that don't have space before the class body:
isClass(class{}) // true
It works with native classes:
isClass(Promise) // true
isClass(Proxy) // true
function isClass(value) {
return typeof value === 'function' && (
/^\s*class[^\w]+/.test(value.toString()) ||
// 1. native classes don't have `class` in their name
// 2. However, they are globals and start with a capital letter.
(globalThis[value.name] === value && /^[A-Z]/.test(value.name))
);
}
const A = class{};
class B {}
function f() {}
console.log(isClass(A)); // true
console.log(isClass(B)); // true
console.log(isClass(Promise)); // true
console.log(isClass(Promise.resolve)); // false
console.log(isClass(f)); // false
Shortcomings
Sadly, it still won't work with node built-in (and probably many other platform-specific) classes, e.g.:
const EventEmitter = require('events');
console.log(isClass(EventEmitter)); // `false`, but should be `true` :(

Well going through some of the answers and thinks to #Joe Hildebrand for highlighting edge case thus following solution is updated to reflect most tried edge cases. Open to more identification where edge cases may rest.
Key insights: although we are getting into classes but just like pointers and references debate in JS does not confirm to all the qualities of other languages - JS as such does not have classes as we have in other language constructs.
some debate it is sugar coat syntax of function and some argue other wise. I believe classes are still a function underneath but not so much so as sugar coated but more so as something that could be put on steroids. Classes will do what functions can not do or didn't bother upgrading them to do.
So dealing with classes as function for the time being open up another Pandora box. Everything in JS is object and everything JS does not understand but is willing to go along with the developer is an object e.g.
Booleans can be objects (if defined with the new keyword)
Numbers can be objects (if defined with the new keyword)
Strings can be objects (if defined with the new keyword)
Dates are always objects
Maths are always objects
Regular expressions are always objects
Arrays are always objects
Functions are always objects
Objects are always objects
Then what the heck are Classes?
Important Classes are a template for creating objects they are not object per say them self at this point.
They become object when you create an instance of the class somewhere, that instance is considered an object.
So with out freaking out we need to sift out
which type of object we are dealing with
Then we need to sift out its properties.
functions are always objects they will always have prototype and arguments property.
arrow function are actually sugar coat of old school function and have no concept of this or more the simple return context so no prototype or arguments even if you attempt at defining them.
classes are kind of blue print of possible function dont have arguments property but have prototypes. these prototypes become after the fact object upon instance.
So i have attempted to capture and log each iteration we check and result of course.
Hope this helps
'use strict';
var isclass,AA,AAA,BB,BBB,BBBB,DD,DDD,E,F;
isclass=function(a) {
if(/null|undefined/.test(a)) return false;
let types = typeof a;
let props = Object.getOwnPropertyNames(a);
console.log(`type: ${types} props: ${props}`);
return ((!props.includes('arguments') && props.includes('prototype')));}
class A{};
class B{constructor(brand) {
this.carname = brand;}};
function C(){};
function D(a){
this.a = a;};
AA = A;
AAA = new A;
BB = B;
BBB = new B;
BBBB = new B('cheking');
DD = D;
DDD = new D('cheking');
E= (a) => a;
F=class {};
console.log('and A is class: '+isclass(A)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and AA as ref to A is class: '+isclass(AA)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and AAA instance of is class: '+isclass(AAA)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and B with implicit constructor is class: '+isclass(B)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and BB as ref to B is class: '+isclass(BB)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and BBB as instance of B is class: '+isclass(BBB)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and BBBB as instance of B is class: '+isclass(BBBB)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and C as function is class: '+isclass(C)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and D as function method is class: '+isclass(D)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and DD as ref to D is class: '+isclass(DD)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and DDD as instance of D is class: '+isclass(DDD)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and E as arrow function is class: '+isclass(E)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and F as variable class is class: '+isclass(F)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and isclass as variable function is class: '+isclass(isclass)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and 4 as number is class: '+isclass(4)+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and 4 as string is class: '+isclass('4')+'\n'+'-------');
console.log('and DOMI\'s string is class: '+isclass('class Im a class. Do you believe me?')+'\n'+'-------');
shorter cleaner function covering strict mode, es6 modules, null, undefined and what ever not property manipulation on object.
What I have found so far is since from above discussion classes are blue print not as such object on their own before the fact of instance. Thus running toString function would almost always produce class {} output not [object object] after the instance and so on. Once we know what is consistent then simply run regex test to see if result starts with word class.
"use strict"
let isclass = a =>{
return (!!a && /^class.*{}/.test(a.toString()))
}
class A {}
class HOO {}
let B=A;
let C=new A;
Object.defineProperty(HOO, 'arguments', {
value: 42,
writable: false
});
console.log(isclass(A));
console.log(isclass(B));
console.log(isclass(C));
console.log(isclass(HOO));
console.log(isclass());
console.log(isclass(null));
console.log(HOO.toString());
//proxiy discussion
console.log(Proxy.toString());
//HOO was class and returned true but if we proxify it has been converted to an object
HOO = new Proxy(HOO, {});
console.log(isclass(HOO));
console.log(HOO.toString());
console.log(isclass('class Im a class. Do you believe me?'));
Lead from DOMI's disucssion
class A {
static hello (){console.log('hello')}
hello () {console.log('hello there')}
}
A.hello();
B = new A;
B.hello();
console.log('it gets even more funnier it is properties and prototype mashing');
class C {
constructor() {
this.hello = C.hello;
}
static hello (){console.log('hello')}
}
C.say = ()=>{console.log('I said something')}
C.prototype.shout = ()=>{console.log('I am shouting')}
C.hello();
D = new C;
D.hello();
D.say();//would throw error as it is not prototype and is not passed with instance
C.say();//would not throw error since its property not prototype
C.shout();//would throw error as it is prototype and is passed with instance but is completly aloof from property of static
D.shout();//would not throw error
console.log('its a whole new ball game ctaching these but gassumption is class will always have protoype to be termed as class');

I'm shocked lodash didnt have the answer. Check this out - Just like Domi I just came up with a solution to fix the glitches. I know its a lot of code but its the most working yet understandable thing I could produce by now. Maybe someone can optimize it by a regex-approach:
function isClass(asset) {
const string_match = "function";
const is_fn = !!(typeof asset === string_match);
if(!is_fn){
return false;
}else{
const has_constructor = is_fn && !!(asset.prototype && asset.prototype.constructor && asset.prototype.constructor === asset);
const code = !asset.toString ? "" : asset.toString();
if(has_constructor && !code.startsWith(string_match)){
return true;
}
if(has_constructor && code.startsWith(string_match+"(")){
return false;
}
const [keyword, name] = code.split(" ");
if(name && name[0] && name[0].toLowerCase && name[0].toLowerCase() != name[0]){
return true;
}else{
return false;
}
}
}
Just test it with:
console.log({
_s:isClass(String),
_a:isClass(Array),
_o:isClass(Object),
_c:isClass(class{}),
fn:isClass(function(){}),
fnn:isClass(function namedFunction(){}),
fnc:isClass(()=>{}),
n:isClass(null),
o:isClass({}),
a:isClass([]),
s:isClass(""),
n:isClass(2),
u:isClass(undefined),
b:isClass(false),
pr:isClass(Promise),
px:isClass(Proxy)
});
Just make sure all classes have a frist uppercased letter.

Maybe this can help
let is_class = (obj) => {
try {
new obj();
return true;
} catch(e) {
return false;
};
};

Adding Prototype to JavaScript Object Literal

STORE = {
item : function() {
}
};
STORE.item.prototype.add = function() { alert('test 123'); };
STORE.item.add();
I have been trying to figure out what's wrong with this quite a while. Why doesn't this work? However, it works when I use the follow:
STORE.item.prototype.add();

The prototype object is meant to be used on constructor functions, basically functions that will be called using the new operator to create new object instances.
Functions in JavaScript are first-class objects, which means you can add members to them and treat them just like ordinary objects:
var STORE = {
item : function() {
}
};
STORE.item.add = function() { alert('test 123'); };
STORE.item.add();
A typical use of the prototype object as I said before, is when you instantiate an object by calling a constructor function with the new operator, for example:
function SomeObject() {} // a constructor function
SomeObject.prototype.someMethod = function () {};
var obj = new SomeObject();
All the instances of SomeObject will inherit the members from the SomeObject.prototype, because those members will be accessed through the prototype chain.
Every function in JavaScript has a prototype object because there is no way to know which functions are intended to be used as constructors.

After many years, when JavaScript (ES2015 arrives) we have finally Object.setPrototypeOf() method
const STORE = {
item: function() {}
};
Object.setPrototypeOf(STORE.item, {
add: function() {
alert('test 123');
}
})
STORE.item.add();

You can use JSON revivers to turn your JSON into class objects at parse time. The EcmaScript 5 draft has adopted the JSON2 reviver scheme described at http://JSON.org/js.html
var myObject = JSON.parse(myJSONtext, reviver);
The optional reviver parameter is a
function that will be called for every
key and value at every level of the
final result. Each value will be
replaced by the result of the reviver
function. This can be used to reform
generic objects into instances of
pseudoclasses, or to transform date
strings into Date objects.
myData = JSON.parse(text, function (key, value) {
var type;
if (value && typeof value === 'object') {
type = value.type;
if (typeof type === 'string' && typeof window[type] === 'function') {
return new (window[type])(value);
}
}
return value;
});

As of this writing this is possible by using the __proto__ property. Just in case anyone here is checking at present and probably in the future.
const dog = {
name: 'canine',
bark: function() {
console.log('woof woof!')
}
}
const pug = {}
pug.__proto__ = dog;
pug.bark();
However, the recommended way of adding prototype in this case is using the Object.create. So the above code will be translated to:
const pug = Object.create(dog)
pug.bark();
Or you can also use Object.setPrototypeOf as mentioned in one of the answers.
Hope that helps.

STORE = {
item : function() {
}
};
this command would create a STORE object. you could check by typeof STORE;. It should return 'object'. And if you type STORE.item; it returns 'function ..'.
Since it is an ordinary object, thus if you want to change item function, you could just access its properties/method with this command.
STORE.item = function() { alert('test 123'); };
Try STORE.item; it's still should return 'function ..'.
Try STORE.item(); then alert will be shown.