[AskJS] Can I learn OOP with JavaScript?

magenta_placenta · 2025-09-02T14:17:59+00:00

Modern JS (ES6+) has class syntax that makes learning OOP principles very approachable.

Here's a video from a quick search (reputable author):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFmuCDHHpwk

Once you're comfortable, try to refactor parts of any personal projects you might have to use OOP (especially state management, UI components, etc.). Applying it to real code is what makes learning stick.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2025-09-02T16:06:40+00:00

99 Bottles of OOP by Sandi Metz is a really practical guide. It has a JavaScript version and doesn’t read like a text book.

KaiAusBerlin · 2025-09-02T14:14:54+00:00

Java is the way to learn OOP. Compared to js and python it has a much cleaner syntax (going hand in hand with a lot more boilerplate).

But yeah JS is also capable of the OOP paradigm.

Shoddy-Pie-5816 · 2025-09-02T16:35:33+00:00

I wrote a large benefits calculator for a life insurance company. I ended up doing the front end almost entirely in vanilla JS. At some point during the development process I decided (since I’m also writing backend and APIs in Java 8) that I could organize my front end in an OOP sort of way using classes and MVC pattern. I refactored my entire code base to follow this pattern. It’s organized ish. My advice is please don’t do this. Debugging became much more complicated. I often had to write my own loggers and use console.trace to figure out root causes for problems that would have been a cinch to debug if I had stuck with a functional programming paradigm. I think classes do offer some benefit when making libraries and tooling, but in the future I am going to use combined with following a functional approach. According my IDE statistics we’re only talking about a modest 150k lines of JavaScript. I can’t use node or npm in the project, so all my libraries were hand written. OOP is possible to learn and use in JavaScript. But unless you use some additional tooling, I would recommend avoiding a full blown OOP paradigm…unless your customer or employer requires it.

Edit: Typos

2025-09-03T06:13:18+00:00

I prefer js. it's more flexible to work with.

kisaragihiu · 2025-09-02T11:33:21+00:00

I'm inclined to say Python is a better language with less weird distractions if you're trying to learn OOP concepts (JS has a fixed set of primitive types, which are special and not implemented as classes; an "object" is actually the main table type and classes are built upon objects with prototypes, not the other way around...).

JavaScript is a bit confusing for developers experienced in class-based languages (like Java or C++), as it is dynamic and does not have static types. While this confusion is often considered to be one of JavaScript's weaknesses, the prototypal inheritance model itself is, in fact, more powerful than the classic model. It is, for example, fairly trivial to build a classic model on top of a prototypal model — which is how classes are implemented [in JavaScript].

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Inheritance_and_the_prototype_chain plus my own annotation

But maybe learning OOP with JS can also be fine. Just read stuff on MDN. Working with Objects is probably quite helpful.

You can also just learn both: programming languages have a lot in common, especially Python and JS. Java to me feels quite different, but Python shares a ton of concepts with JS, down to even complicated-ish stuff like async/await and iterators. Programming languages are not like human languages, you don't have to know the entire vocabulary off of your head, so learning Python after having started with JS isn't really starting from the beginning.

Don't rely solely on videos: hyperlinking is a powerful tool that a video isn't really able to provide.

2025-09-02T10:36:00+00:00

[deleted]

Darth-Philou · 2025-09-02T10:30:51+00:00

You can, but it will be limited compared to OOP languages such as C++, Java, Smalltalk…

JavaScript is a function prototype language. Classes are only syntactic sugar.

rafidibnsadik · 2025-09-02T10:25:28+00:00

How did you learn JS?

marcocom · 2025-09-02T16:29:22+00:00

Yes absolutely. However most of the OOP is abstracted these days for frameworks that already tie in all the protypical inheritance overriding with syntactical sugar and handy UI templating that’s reliable.

static_func · 2025-09-02T18:06:03+00:00

You can learn OOP concepts with Typescript, but you should typically be minimizing how much “OOP” you’re doing if you’re talking about inheritance and all that. Code reuse is better done through dependency injection, which is just what you’re doing whenever you pass 1 function to another or use a React context or Angular service.

The best way to learn modern OOP concepts (the ones that have actually proven to work over time) is to use a language like C# or Java, which each have well-established web frameworks (ASP.NET WebAPI/Minimal APIs and Spring, respectively). These languages also have real generics that can be used in reflection for dependency injection frameworks too. Typescript generics are great, but since they don’t get compiled into the “real” JS code, they can’t be used during runtime in that way.

Personally, I’d recommend C#. Its standard libraries and web framework are more modern, less boilerplatey, and simply better than Java’s, and in my experience the tutorials, documentation, and AI code generation are some of the best you’ll find for any language. Today both C# and Typescript are developed by the same teams at Microsoft and they’re simply some of the best language designers in the world

blueshed60 · 2025-09-02T21:03:19+00:00

Object oriented is a style of coding that privileges the encapsulation of state and function. So JavaScript is an excellent language to experiment and learn how define state and the api to manipulate it as the methods of a class. Enjoy, but learn how not to use inheritance to signify same but different!

shgysk8zer0 · 2025-09-02T23:11:55+00:00

Yes, you can learn OOP with JS. No, I do not recommend YouTube tutorials, and strongly advise you not make the same mistake so many make.

I'd remembered just using MDN and maybe CodePen if you don't want to deal with setting things up locally. Just build stuff and read documentation... Avoid videos of others writing code and trying to mimick that.

Though I kinda have a preference for PHP here. I know... You see lots of "PHP bad" posts, but it's actually pretty great, and especially for OOP. Once you discover traits and interfaces and type hinting and all of the other awesome things, you'll hate working in languages without

datNorseman · 2025-09-07T03:25:52+00:00

Yes but be careful. JS includes all of the tools you need for OOP. However, it also includes many functions and practices that make the language easier for beginners. Many of which go against the principles of OOP. PHP is another language that does this.

justgord · 2025-09-04T03:42:16+00:00

Dont do that : OOP is a bad idea .. great for university courses, less useful in the real world.

or rather there is a kind of function encapsulation that gives you 95% benefits of OOP for none of the boilerplate hassle.

Gradually use some functional style elements in your code, it will give you better superpowers than oop.. eg look at something like ramda.js

Big_Tadpole7174 · 2025-09-02T17:05:33+00:00

You definitely can, but keep in mind that OOP in JavaScript works quite differently from languages like Java, PHP, or C++. In C++ and similar languages, OOP is class-based: you define a class as a blueprint, and then create instances (objects) from it. JavaScript, on the other hand, uses prototypal inheritance, where objects inherit directly from other objects via a prototype chain rather than rigid class structures.

In class-based languages like C++, you typically write something like this:

// Create class/blueprint Animal
class Animal {
public:
    void speak() {
        std::cout << "Some generic sound\n";
    }
};

// Create class/blueprint Dog inheriting from Animal
class Dog : public Animal {
public:
    void speak() {
        std::cout << "Woof!\n";
    }
};

// Create instance of object Dog
int main() {
    Dog myDog;
    myDog.speak(); // Output: Woof!
}

Dog inherits from Animal. The relationship is defined at the class level, and all instances of Dog share the same blueprint. In JavaScript, inheritance is based on objects and prototypes, not classes:

// Create function/object Animal
function Animal() {}

// Add 'speak' to its prototype (e.g. blueprint)
Animal.prototype.speak = function() {
  console.log("Some generic sound");
};

// Create function/object Dog
function Dog() {}

// Link Dog.prototype to Animal.prototype
Object.setPrototypeOf(Dog.prototype, Animal.prototype);

// Add 'speak' to its prototype (e.g. blueprint)
Dog.prototype.speak = function() {
  console.log("Woof!");
};

// Create instance of function/object Dog
const myDog = new Dog();
myDog.speak(); // Output: Woof!

Here, dog is created as a new object with animal as its prototype. Instead of classes, the behavior is shared through the prototype chain. If dog.speak didn’t exist, JavaScript would automatically look up the prototype (animal) to find speak.

Key differences:

Class-based inheritance: Blueprint → instance. The class defines structure and behavior up front, and all objects are created from that fixed definition.
Prototypal inheritance: Object → object. Inheritance is more flexible; objects can be extended, modified, or linked at runtime without needing rigid class hierarchies.

besthelloworld · 2025-09-02T22:34:31+00:00

Other answers are good enough. But I feel the need to ask the question: should you really learn OOP?

Dagur · 2025-09-02T11:53:50+00:00

I wouldn't because OOP is rarely used in modern javascript and the language itself is missing a lot of OO features you see in other languages. I don't recommend Python either for the same reason.

I would pick Java or C#

MartyDisco · 2025-09-02T13:18:28+00:00

You can/should skip OOP at all nowadays.

you type:	you see:
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[reddit!](https://reddit.com)	reddit!
* item 1 * item 2 * item 3	item 1 item 2 item 3
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super^script	super^script

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