Understanding the four layers of JavaScript OOP

JavaScript OOP is baffling: on one hand, there is a simple core, on the other hand, there are some really weird things going on. I’ve been pondering for a long time how to explain it well and I think the best way to do so is via four layers: single objects, prototype chains, constructors, constructor inheritance. The first two layers are JavaScript’s simple OOP core, layers 3 and 4 are where the complications start.

I’ve explained the four OOP layers in an O’Reilly webcast:

• Video on YouTube (starts later to avoid duplicated content at the beginning)
• Slides
• Full webcast (requires Flash, but the audience’s comments in the chat are interesting)

Additional material:

• “In defense of JavaScript’s constructors” explains my – conservative – recommendation of constructors
• “JavaScript’s ‘this’: how it works, where it can trip you up”
• Chapter “Objects and Inheritance” in the online version of “Speaking JavaScript”