Differences in JavaScript OO methodology

Question

I am trying to learn more about JavaScript OO Programming, but am seeing conflicting methods to create a "Class"-like object. I am wondering if there are any substantial differences in these two methods:

Method 1

function Person(name){
    this.name = name;

    this.setName = function(val){
        this.name = val;
    }

    this.getName = function(){
        return this.name
    }
}

var John = new Person("John");

Method 2

function Person(name){
    var exports = {};
    exports.name = name;

    exports.setName = function(val){
        this.name = val;
    }

    exports.getName = function(){
        return this.name
    }

    return exports;
}

var Bob = Person("Bob");

I have seen these two methods used for creating a complex JavsScript object. I have even seen large JS plugins like jQuery use method 2 instead of method 1 to set up their jQuery functions. Is one of these faster or more efficient than the other in any way?

Answer 1

The first one creates an object of the type Person, while the second one creates an object of the type Object. The first one allows you to add members to the prototype of Person.

You can put all the functions in the prototype instead of creating new functions for every instance:

function Person(name){
  this.name = name;
}

Person.prototype = {
  setName: function(val){
    this.name = val;
  },
  getName: function(){
    return this.name
  }
}