Prototype and Scriptaculous: Taking the Pain out of JavaScript

2.1. Defining Classes

Since JavaScript is a prototype-based language rather than an object-oriented language, defining classes is a bit long winded.

Consider a simple Point class that has two attributes, x and y.

This may be defined in raw JavaScript as:

var Point = function(x,y)
{
       this.x = x;
       this.y = y;
}

function Point_toString()
{
       return "Point(" +this.x+","+this.y+")";
}

Point.prototype.toString = Point_toString;

New instances may be created using the new keyword:

var myPoint = new Point(0,0);