JavaScript Object.create -- inheriting nested properties

Question

I've come across a peculiarity with Douglas Crockfords Object.create method which I'm hoping someone might be able to explain:

If I create an object - say 'person' - using object literal notation then use Object.create to create a new object - say 'anotherPerson' - which inherits the methods and properties from the initial 'person' object.

If I then change the name values of the second object - 'anotherPerson' - it also changes the name value of the initial 'person' object.

This only happens when the properties are nested, this code should give you an idea of what I mean:

if (typeof Object.create !== 'function') {
    Object.create = function (o) {
        function F() {}
        F.prototype = o;
        return new F();
    };
};

// initiate new 'person' object
var person = {
    name: {
        first: 'Ricky',
        last: 'Gervais'
    },
    talk: function() {
        console.log('my name is ' + this.name.first + ' ' + this.name.last);
    }
}

// create anotherPerson from person.prototype
var anotherPerson = Object.create(person);
// change name of anotherPerson
anotherPerson.name.first = 'Stephen';
anotherPerson.name.last = 'Merchant';

// call talk method of both 'person' and 'anotherPerson' objects
person.talk(); // oddly enough, prints 'Stephen Merchant'
anotherPerson.talk(); // prints 'Stephen Merchant'

If I were to store the name values without nesting then this odd behaviour does not occur -- e.g.

// initiate new 'person' object
var person = {
    firstName: 'Ricky',
    lastName: 'Gervais',
    talk: function() {
        console.log('my name is ' + this.firstName + ' ' + this.lastName);
    }
}

// create anotherPerson from person.prototype
var anotherPerson = Object.create(person);
// change name of anotherPerson
anotherPerson.firstName = 'Stephen';
anotherPerson.lastName = 'Merchant';

// call talk method of both 'person' and 'anotherPerson' objects
person.talk(); // prints 'Ricky Gervais'
anotherPerson.talk(); // prints 'Stephen Merchant'

This nesting issue doesn't seem to occur when using a classical style of inheritance with a constructor function and the 'new' keyword.

I'd be much appreciative if anyone's able to explain why this occurs!?

Answer 1

That happens because anotherPerson.name is an object and it is stored upper in the prototype chain, on the original person object:

//...
var anotherPerson = Object.create(person);
anotherPerson.hasOwnProperty('name'); // false, the name is inherited
person.name === anotherPerson.name; // true, the same object reference

You can avoid this by assigning a new object to the name property of the newly created object:

// create anotherPerson from person
var anotherPerson = Object.create(person);

anotherPerson.name = {
  first: 'Stephen',
  last: 'Merchant'
};