Object Creation and Manipulation Functions in JavaScript

JavaScript has undergone several incarnations during its life. These transformations have made it possible to modify and fine-tune the object creation and manipulation process. Besides the usual way to create objects with constructor functions and to assign prototypes to those functions, you can directly create objects from a prototype, define properties with the desired descriptors, and also control the enumerability or configurability of the properties.

The functions that are used for this purpose are situated on the Object constructor. For example, in order to create an object from an arbitrary prototype, you can use the Object.create function. Here is a simple example:

    const dog = {
        bark() {
            console.log("Woof-woof!");
        },
    };
    let pluto = Object.create(dog);
    pluto.bark();

This is a list of the functions used for object creation or manipulation that are accessible through Object:

    create
    assign
    defineProperty
    defineProperties
    getPrototypeOf
    setPrototypeOf
    getOwnPropertyDescriptor
    getOwnPropertyDescriptors
    getOwnPropertyNames
    getOwnPropertySymbols
    is
    seal
    freeze
    preventExtensions
    isExtensible
    isSealed
    isFrozen
    keys
    entries
    values

There are a few methods on Object.prototype that are related to these tasks:

    hasOwnProperty
    isPrototypeOf
    propertyIsEnumerable

The following property and methods on Object.prototype are deprecated and should not be used:

    __proto__
    __defineGetter__
    __defineSetter__
    __lookupGetter__
    __lookupSetter__

Evidently, each of the functions that were listed in this post are very important and need extensive coverage. I hope to start a series of posts for explaining these functions.