When it comes to JavaScript, primitives do not possess a prototype chain like objects do. The list of primitive values includes:
- Booleans
- Numbers
- Strings
- Null
- Undefined
As a result, calling isPrototypeOf
with a primitive value will always yield a result of false
.
If you attempt to use a boolean, number, or string as an object in JavaScript, the language will automatically convert it into an object for you. This is why a.constructor
ultimately equates to new Number(a).constructor
. Essentially, you can treat a primitive value as an object.
If you find yourself frequently needing to use a variable storing a primitive value as an object, it's recommended to explicitly make it an object. For instance, defining a
as new Number(12)
would be preferable. The benefits include:
- By creating the object only once, JavaScript avoids the need to repeatedly convert the primitive to an object every time you use it. This leads to better performance efficiency.
- In this scenario, the
isPrototypeOf
method will return true
because a
would be an instance of Number
, thus having Number.prototype
in its prototype chain.