Object.create alters console output of proto object in Chrome?

Question

I was playing around today when I noticed that some of my objects in Chrome's console were being displayed as Object instead of the constructor function name.

This was odd, so I boiled it down to the following code:

function Baz() {
    this.baz = true;
}
var b = new Baz();
var c = Object.create(b);
console.log(b); // why is b outputting with Object not Baz?

In the above code b, is not created via a Object.create and yet when logged it says Object. I don't have a typo there, and mistakenly asking about c. The log of b has been altered when I haven't even touched that object. Creating another instance c, should not alter b.

This has to be a Chrome bug right? Is there anyway to get Chrome to correctly report Baz here?

This is important for debugging purposes.

UPDATE Bug filed: https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=478522

Answer 1

Update: This is indeed a regression between Chrome 41 and Chrome 42. It's being tracked here: http://crbug.com/478522

Chrome 41's output:

Chrome 42's output:

They've made improvements to syntax highlighting as you type in the dev tools and this probably broke. I've pinged a friend who is deeply involved with the dev tools. Nice find.

---

No. The problem you describe is very real.

Objects created with constructors will have their name displayed when logging them and generally better debugging experience in Chrome (and in node/io.js).

For this reason - I avoid Object.create for prototypical inheritance in my own code although I prefer it conceptually.

I think you understand this - but I still want to clarify for future readers. Note that the inheritance still happens with the Object.create version - the only difference is in how the object is logged and treated in the debugger.