16__Subclassable_Built-ins.md

title
Subclassable Built-ins

In ES6, built-ins like Array, Date and DOM Elements can be subclassed.

Object construction for a function named Ctor now uses two-phases (both virtually dispatched):

• Call Ctor[@@create] to allocate the object, installing any special behavior
• Invoke constructor on new instance to initialize

The known @@create symbol is available via Symbol.create. Built-ins now expose their @@create explicitly.

// Pseudo-code of Array
class Array {
    constructor(...args) { /* ... */ }
    static [Symbol.create]() {
        // Install special [[DefineOwnProperty]]
        // to magically update 'length'
    }
}

// User code of Array subclass
class MyArray extends Array {
    constructor(...args) { super(...args); }
}

// Two-phase 'new':
// 1) Call @@create to allocate object
// 2) Invoke constructor on new instance
var arr = new MyArray();
arr[1] = 12;
arr.length == 2