Classes in JavaScript (and why syntactic sugar is fine)

Classes in JavaScript get a bad rap for many reasons. One of them is because classes are just "syntactic sugar" in JavaScript. Another is because Classes in the traditional sense do not exist in JavaScript. But does it really matter? I spend some time discussing the class keyword, what it means to be syntactic sugar, and what happens in JavaScript whenever you write a class. To understand this last bit, we also spend a bit of time looking at prototypal inheritance and how we would create objects/data structures pre ES6/ES2015.

00:00 Preface
00:33 What is syntactic sugar?
02:05 Why do we care with regard to classes?
06:09 Closing

[cawsha]

I came to JavaScript from C# and before that C++. It was a shock to discover that although the syntax is very similar JavaScript is profoundly different. Many people must have spent vast amounts of time trying to simulate classical OOP in JS with cumbersome workarounds so to me introducing classes was the point when JS finally grew up.
Like any other language feature, you don't have to use it but it's there if you want it.

[mreis]

I really appreciated the way you exposed the subject. Congratz.

[Alphaantzz]

Nice video, dude. This was very helpful!

[xinli]

Thanks for the video! It really helps!

[ThierryPBeaulieu]

Really enjoying this new series so far and looking forward to the next one :) I'd love to see your take on "composition pattern". at some point. Thanks

[gbbowler]

I'd like to learn more about modules and importing/exporting. Thanks.

[MZ-yxeg]

Nice tutorial man, thanks i sub, I like that u explain 1 thing properly, really diving deep

[Niweera]

Can you do a video about AST in JavaScript?

[juanignaciocaceres]

Thx for this video, i've a problems for understand the methood map, reduce and filter.
Saludos desde Argentina.

[srvtrydvejayesh]

I couldn't understand what is syntactic sugar.

[RameenFallschirmjager]

Developers ain't dogmatic! When someone puts enormous amount of time and energy to master something he attaches to it emotionally. So it's very natural of him to behave in an almost fanatic way! Try to understand that.