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I'm learning about objects, prototypes and inheritances. I got a doubt regarding the following code, from a conceptual viewpoint:

function Animal() {
  this.eat = function() {
    console.log("nom nom nom"); 
  }
};

const dog = new Animal();
const cat = Object.create(Animal);

dog.eat();                    // nom nom nom
cat.eat();                    // cat.eat is not a function

This doesn't work either:

const cat = Object.create(Animal.prototype);

cat.eat();                    // cat.eat is not a function

The only way to make it work on cat is to assign the function to Animal.prototype.eat on a separate line.

As I read on this thread, new Animal is essentially Object.create(Animal.prototype). So, why is dog inheriting the eat function (which, I understand, is an 'Own Property' of the Animal constructor) and cat isn't, even when created with Animal.prototype as its parameter?

Thanks a lot in advance!

chuchomp
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1 Answers1

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Your Animal() constructor assigns the function to each distinct instance, not to the prototype. The function is not on the prototype object, so Object.create() will not provide access to the .eat() method.

Pointy
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