Get the name of an object's type

Question

Is there a JavaScript equivalent of Java\'s class.getName()?

Answer 1

The kind() function from Agave.JS will return:

• the closest prototype in the inheritance tree
• for always-primitive types like 'null' and 'undefined', the primitive name.

It works on all JS objects and primitives, regardless of how they were created, and doesn't have any surprises. Examples:

Numbers

kind(37) === 'Number'
kind(3.14) === 'Number'
kind(Math.LN2) === 'Number'
kind(Infinity) === 'Number'
kind(Number(1)) === 'Number'
kind(new Number(1)) === 'Number'

NaN

kind(NaN) === 'NaN'

Strings

kind('') === 'String'
kind('bla') === 'String'
kind(String("abc")) === 'String'
kind(new String("abc")) === 'String'

Booleans

kind(true) === 'Boolean'
kind(false) === 'Boolean'
kind(new Boolean(true)) === 'Boolean'

Arrays

kind([1, 2, 4]) === 'Array'
kind(new Array(1, 2, 3)) === 'Array'

Objects

kind({a:1}) === 'Object'
kind(new Object()) === 'Object'

Dates

kind(new Date()) === 'Date'

Functions

kind(function(){}) === 'Function'
kind(new Function("console.log(arguments)")) === 'Function'
kind(Math.sin) === 'Function'

undefined

kind(undefined) === 'undefined'

null

kind(null) === 'null'