Prototypal Inheritance in JavaScript

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When I started learning JavaScript, one sentence kept popping up everywhere:

“JavaScript uses prototypal inheritance.”

At first, it sounded intimidating. But once I understood how property lookup actually works, everything became much clearer.

This blog explains prototypal inheritance from the ground up, using simple examples, and real intuition.

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🧠 What Is Prototypal Inheritance?

Prototypal inheritance in JavaScript is a mechanism where objects inherit properties and methods from other objects.

Unlike classical languages (Java, C++), JavaScript does not copy properties from parent to child.
Instead, it delegates property access through a chain of objects.

This is why prototypal inheritance is better described as delegation, not traditional inheritance.

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🔍 The Hidden [[Prototype]]

Every JavaScript object has a hidden internal property called:

[[Prototype]]

This property points to another object, known as the object’s prototype.

You can access it using:

Object.getPrototypeOf(obj);
// or (not recommended for production)
obj.__proto__;

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🔗 How Property Lookup Works (Prototype Chain)

When you try to access a property:

obj.someProperty