Method vs Function What is the Difference Between a Function and a Method in JavaScript?

This article was originally posted on my blog.

Abby Snopek tweeted the following:

In short: a method is a function that belongs to a class. In JavaScript, however, a method is a function that belongs to an object.

Everything in JavaScript is an object; a function is an object; an Array is an object. This is a quirky design decision, but because most everything in JavaScript is an object, we can do neat things with Prototypal Inheritance. The nice thing about prototypal inheritance is that we can manipulate several different properties on the prototype chain at once.

Give that above article a read for more information. Also, check out the Inheritance and the prototype chain article on MDN.

Update: I wrote this post without coffee and realized I should show some examples. Will rectify this after my java ☕.

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Comments

[Francesco Esposito]

Thanks for this article!

Another way to say it, it’s that a method is a function with a defined this

[tiff]

Thanks for the tip.

[Kate Hansen]

Perfect! Very clear and awesome, thanks!

[radoncreep]

Thanks for this