Classes

Classes are a template for creating objects. They encapsulate data with code to work on that data. Classes in JS are built on prototypes but also have some syntax and semantics that are not shared with ES5 class-like semantics.

Defining classes

Classes are in fact "special functions", and just as you can define function expressions and function declarations, the class syntax has two components: class expressions and class declarations.

Class declarations

One way to define a class is using a class declaration. To declare a class, you use the class keyword with the name of the class ("Rectangle" here).

class Rectangle {
  constructor(height, width) {
    this.height = height;
    this.width = width;
  }
}

Hoisting

An important difference between function declarations and class declarations is that function declarations are hoisted and class declarations are not. You first need to declare your class and then access it, otherwise code like the following will throw a ReferenceError:

const p = new Rectangle(); // ReferenceError

class Rectangle {}

Class expressions

A class expression is another way to define a class. Class expressions can be named or unnamed. The name given to a named class expression is local to the class's body. However, it can be accessed via the name property.

// unnamed
let Rectangle = class {
  constructor(height, width) {
    this.height = height;
    this.width = width;
  }
};
console.log(Rectangle.name);
// output: "Rectangle"

// named
let Rectangle = class Rectangle2 {
  constructor(height, width) {
    this.height = height;
    this.width = width;
  }
};
console.log(Rectangle.name);
// output: "Rectangle2"

Class body and method definitions

The body of a class is the part that is in curly brackets {}. This is where you define class members, such as methods or constructor.

Strict mode

The body of a class is executed in strict mode, i.e., code written here is subject to stricter syntax for increased performance, some otherwise silent errors will be thrown, and certain keywords are reserved for future versions of ECMAScript.

Constructor

The constructor method is a special method for creating and initializing an object created with a class. There can only be one special method with the name "constructor" in a class. A SyntaxError will be thrown if the class contains more than one occurrence of a constructor method.

A constructor can use the super keyword to call the constructor of the super class.

Static initialization blocks

Class static initialization blocks allow flexible initialization of class static properties including the evaluation of statements during initialization, and granting access to private scope.

Multiple static blocks can be declared, and these can be interleaved with the declaration of static properties and methods (all static items are evaluated in declaration order).

Prototype methods

See also method definitions.

class Rectangle {
  constructor(height, width) {
    this.height = height;
    this.width = width;
  }
  // Getter
  get area() {
    return this.calcArea();
  }
  // Method
  calcArea() {
    return this.height * this.width;
  }
}

const square = new Rectangle(10, 10);

console.log(square.area); // 100

Generator methods

See also Iterators and generators.

class Polygon {
  constructor(...sides) {
    this.sides = sides;
  }
  // Method
  *getSides() {
    for(const side of this.sides){
      yield side;
    }
  }
}

const pentagon = new Polygon(1,2,3,4,5);

console.log([...pentagon.getSides()]); // [1,2,3,4,5]

Static methods and properties

The static keyword defines a static method or property for a class. Static members (properties and methods) are called without instantiating their class and cannot be called through a class instance. Static methods are often used to create utility functions for an application, whereas static properties are useful for caches, fixed-configuration, or any other data you don't need to be replicated across instances.

class Point {
  constructor(x, y) {
    this.x = x;
    this.y = y;
  }

  static displayName = "Point";
  static distance(a, b) {
    const dx = a.x - b.x;
    const dy = a.y - b.y;

    return Math.hypot(dx, dy);
  }
}

const p1 = new Point(5, 5);
const p2 = new Point(10, 10);
p1.displayName; // undefined
p1.distance;    // undefined
p2.displayName; // undefined
p2.distance;    // undefined

console.log(Point.displayName);      // "Point"
console.log(Point.distance(p1, p2)); // 7.0710678118654755

Binding this with prototype and static methods

When a static or prototype method is called without a value for this, such as by assigning the method to a variable and then calling it, the this value will be undefined inside the method. This behavior will be the same even if the "use strict" directive isn't present, because code within the class body's syntactic boundary is always executed in strict mode.

class Animal {
  speak() {
    return this;
  }
  static eat() {
    return this;
  }
}

let obj = new Animal();
obj.speak(); // the Animal object
let speak = obj.speak;
speak(); // undefined

Animal.eat() // class Animal
let eat = Animal.eat;
eat(); // undefined

If we rewrite the above using traditional function-based syntax in non–strict mode, then this method calls are automatically bound to the initial this value, which by default is the global object. In strict mode, autobinding will not happen; the value of this remains as passed.

function Animal() { }

Animal.prototype.speak = function() {
  return this;
}

Animal.eat = function() {
  return this;
}

let obj = new Animal();
let speak = obj.speak;
speak(); // global object (in non–strict mode)

let eat = Animal.eat;
eat(); // global object (in non-strict mode)

Instance properties

Instance properties must be defined inside of class methods:

class Rectangle {
  constructor(height, width) {
    this.height = height;
    this.width = width;
  }
}

Field declarations

Public field declarations

With the JavaScript field declaration syntax, the above example can be written as:

class Rectangle {
  height = 0;
  width;
  constructor(height, width) {
    this.height = height;
    this.width = width;
  }
}

By declaring fields up-front, class definitions become more self-documenting, and the fields are always present.

As seen above, the fields can be declared with or without a default value.

See public class fields for more information.

Private field declarations

Using private fields, the definition can be refined as below.

class Rectangle {
  #height = 0;
  #width;
  constructor(height, width) {
    this.#height = height;
    this.#width = width;
  }
}

It's an error to reference private fields from outside of the class; they can only be read or written within the class body. By defining things that are not visible outside of the class, you ensure that your classes' users can't depend on internals, which may change from version to version.

Private fields cannot be created later through assigning to them, the way that normal properties can.

For more information, see private class features.

Sub classing with extends

The extends keyword is used in class declarations or class expressions to create a class as a child of another class.

class Animal {
  constructor(name) {
    this.name = name;
  }

  speak() {
    console.log(`${this.name} makes a noise.`);
  }
}

class Dog extends Animal {
  constructor(name) {
    super(name); // call the super class constructor and pass in the name parameter
  }

  speak() {
    console.log(`${this.name} barks.`);
  }
}

let d = new Dog('Mitzie');
d.speak(); // Mitzie barks.

If there is a constructor present in the subclass, it needs to first call super() before using "this".

One may also extend traditional function-based "classes":

function Animal (name) {
  this.name = name;
}

Animal.prototype.speak = function () {
  console.log(`${this.name} makes a noise.`);
}

class Dog extends Animal {
  speak() {
    console.log(`${this.name} barks.`);
  }
}

let d = new Dog('Mitzie');
d.speak(); // Mitzie barks.

// For similar methods, the child's method takes precedence over parent's method

Note that classes cannot extend regular (non-constructible) objects. If you want to inherit from a regular object, you can instead use Object.setPrototypeOf():

const Animal = {
  speak() {
    console.log(`${this.name} makes a noise.`);
  }
};

class Dog {
  constructor(name) {
    this.name = name;
  }
}

// If you do not do this you will get a TypeError when you invoke speak
Object.setPrototypeOf(Dog.prototype, Animal);

let d = new Dog('Mitzie');
d.speak(); // Mitzie makes a noise.

Species

You might want to return Array objects in your derived array class MyArray. The species pattern lets you override default constructors.

For example, when using methods such as map() that returns the default constructor, you want these methods to return a parent Array object, instead of the MyArray object. The Symbol.species symbol lets you do this:

class MyArray extends Array {
  // Overwrite species to the parent Array constructor
  static get [Symbol.species]() { return Array; }
}

let a = new MyArray(1,2,3);
let mapped = a.map(x => x * x);

console.log(mapped instanceof MyArray); // false
console.log(mapped instanceof Array);   // true

Super class calls with super

The super keyword is used to call corresponding methods of super class. This is one advantage over prototype-based inheritance.

class Cat {
  constructor(name) {
    this.name = name;
  }

  speak() {
    console.log(`${this.name} makes a noise.`);
  }
}

class Lion extends Cat {
  speak() {
    super.speak();
    console.log(`${this.name} roars.`);
  }
}

let l = new Lion('Fuzzy');
l.speak();
// Fuzzy makes a noise.
// Fuzzy roars.

Mix-ins

Abstract subclasses or mix-ins are templates for classes. An ECMAScript class can only have a single superclass, so multiple inheritance from tooling classes, for example, is not possible. The functionality must be provided by the superclass.

A function with a superclass as input and a subclass extending that superclass as output can be used to implement mix-ins in ECMAScript:

let calculatorMixin = Base => class extends Base {
  calc() { }
};

let randomizerMixin = Base => class extends Base {
  randomize() { }
};

A class that uses these mix-ins can then be written like this:

class Foo { }
class Bar extends calculatorMixin(randomizerMixin(Foo)) { }

Re-running a class definition

A class can't be redefined. Attempting to do so produces a SyntaxError.

If you're experimenting with code in a web browser, such as the Firefox Web Console (Tools > Web Developer > Web Console) and you 'Run' a definition of a class with the same name twice, you'll get a SyntaxError: redeclaration of let ClassName;. (See further discussion of this issue in bug 1428672.) Doing something similar in Chrome Developer Tools gives you a message like Uncaught SyntaxError: Identifier 'ClassName' has already been declared at <anonymous>:1:1.

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• Functions
• class declaration
• class expression
• Public class fields
• Private class features
• super
• Blog post: "ES6 In Depth: Classes"
• Fields and public/private class properties proposal (stage 3)