How do I create an abstract base class in JavaScript?

JavaScript Classes and Inheritance (ES6)

According to ES6, you can use JavaScript classes and inheritance to accomplish what you need.

JavaScript classes, introduced in ECMAScript 2015, are primarily syntactical sugar over JavaScript's existing prototype-based inheritance.

Reference: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Classes

First of all, we define our abstract class. This class can't be instantiated, but can be extended. We can also define functions that must be implemented in all classes that extends this one.

/**
 * Abstract Class Animal.
 *
 * @class Animal
 */
class Animal {

  constructor() {
    if (this.constructor == Animal) {
      throw new Error("Abstract classes can't be instantiated.");
    }
  }

  say() {
    throw new Error("Method 'say()' must be implemented.");
  }

  eat() {
    console.log("eating");
  }
}

After that, we can create our concrete Classes. These classes will inherit all functions and behaviour from abstract class.

/**
 * Dog.
 *
 * @class Dog
 * @extends {Animal}
 */
class Dog extends Animal {
  say() {
    console.log("bark");
  }
}

/**
 * Cat.
 *
 * @class Cat
 * @extends {Animal}
 */
class Cat extends Animal {
  say() {
    console.log("meow");
  }
}

/**
 * Horse.
 *
 * @class Horse
 * @extends {Animal}
 */
class Horse extends Animal {}

And the results...

// RESULTS

new Dog().eat(); // eating
new Cat().eat(); // eating
new Horse().eat(); // eating

new Dog().say(); // bark
new Cat().say(); // meow
new Horse().say(); // Error: Method say() must be implemented.

new Animal(); // Error: Abstract classes can't be instantiated.

Do you mean something like this:

function Animal() {
  //Initialization for all Animals
}

//Function and properties shared by all instances of Animal
Animal.prototype.init=function(name){
  this.name=name;
}
Animal.prototype.say=function(){
    alert(this.name + " who is a " + this.type + " says " + this.whattosay);
}
Animal.prototype.type="unknown";

function Cat(name) {
    this.init(name);

    //Make a cat somewhat unique
    var s="";
    for (var i=Math.ceil(Math.random()*7); i>=0; --i) s+="e";
    this.whattosay="Me" + s +"ow";
}
//Function and properties shared by all instances of Cat    
Cat.prototype=new Animal();
Cat.prototype.type="cat";
Cat.prototype.whattosay="meow";


function Dog() {
    //Call init with same arguments as Dog was called with
    this.init.apply(this,arguments);
}

Dog.prototype=new Animal();
Dog.prototype.type="Dog";
Dog.prototype.whattosay="bark";
//Override say.
Dog.prototype.say = function() {
        this.openMouth();
        //Call the original with the exact same arguments
        Animal.prototype.say.apply(this,arguments);
        //or with other arguments
        //Animal.prototype.say.call(this,"some","other","arguments");
        this.closeMouth();
}

Dog.prototype.openMouth=function() {
   //Code
}
Dog.prototype.closeMouth=function() {
   //Code
}

var dog = new Dog("Fido");
var cat1 = new Cat("Dash");
var cat2 = new Cat("Dot");


dog.say(); // Fido the Dog says bark
cat1.say(); //Dash the Cat says M[e]+ow
cat2.say(); //Dot the Cat says M[e]+ow


alert(cat instanceof Cat) // True
alert(cat instanceof Dog) // False
alert(cat instanceof Animal) // True

You might want to check out Dean Edwards' Base Class: http://dean.edwards.name/weblog/2006/03/base/

Alternatively, there is this example / article by Douglas Crockford on classical inheritance in JavaScript: http://www.crockford.com/javascript/inheritance.html

Is it possible to simulate abstract base class in JavaScript?

Certainly. There are about a thousand ways to implement class/instance systems in JavaScript. Here is one:

// Classes magic. Define a new class with var C= Object.subclass(isabstract),
// add class members to C.prototype,
// provide optional C.prototype._init() method to initialise from constructor args,
// call base class methods using Base.prototype.call(this, ...).
//
Function.prototype.subclass= function(isabstract) {
    if (isabstract) {
        var c= new Function(
            'if (arguments[0]!==Function.prototype.subclass.FLAG) throw(\'Abstract class may not be constructed\'); '
        );
    } else {
        var c= new Function(
            'if (!(this instanceof arguments.callee)) throw(\'Constructor called without "new"\'); '+
            'if (arguments[0]!==Function.prototype.subclass.FLAG && this._init) this._init.apply(this, arguments); '
        );
    }
    if (this!==Object)
        c.prototype= new this(Function.prototype.subclass.FLAG);
    return c;
}
Function.prototype.subclass.FLAG= new Object();

var cat = new Animal('cat');

That's not really an abstract base class of course. Do you mean something like:

var Animal= Object.subclass(true); // is abstract
Animal.prototype.say= function() {
    window.alert(this._noise);
};

// concrete classes
var Cat= Animal.subclass();
Cat.prototype._noise= 'meow';
var Dog= Animal.subclass();
Dog.prototype._noise= 'bark';

// usage
var mycat= new Cat();
mycat.say(); // meow!
var mygiraffe= new Animal(); // error!

Another thing you might want to enforce is making sure your abstract class is not instantiated. You can do that by defining a function that acts as FLAG ones set as the Abstract class constructor. This will then try to construct the FLAG which will call its constructor containing exception to be thrown. Example below:

(function(){

    var FLAG_ABSTRACT = function(__class){

        throw "Error: Trying to instantiate an abstract class:"+__class
    }

    var Class = function (){

        Class.prototype.constructor = new FLAG_ABSTRACT("Class");       
    }

    //will throw exception
    var  foo = new Class();

})()

function Animal(type) {
    if (type == "cat") {
        this.__proto__ = Cat.prototype;
    } else if (type == "dog") {
        this.__proto__ = Dog.prototype;
    } else if (type == "fish") {
        this.__proto__ = Fish.prototype;
    }
}
Animal.prototype.say = function() {
    alert("This animal can't speak!");
}

function Cat() {
    // init cat
}
Cat.prototype = new Animal();
Cat.prototype.say = function() {
    alert("Meow!");
}

function Dog() {
    // init dog
}
Dog.prototype = new Animal();
Dog.prototype.say = function() {
    alert("Bark!");
}

function Fish() {
    // init fish
}
Fish.prototype = new Animal();

var newAnimal = new Animal("dog");
newAnimal.say();

This isn't guaranteed to work as __proto__ isn't a standard variable, but it works at least in Firefox and Safari.

If you don't understand how it works, read about the prototype chain.

Javascript can have inheritance, check out the URL below:

http://www.webreference.com/js/column79/

Andrew

//Your Abstract class Animal
function Animal(type) {
    this.say = type.say;
}

function catClass() {
    this.say = function () {
        console.log("I am a cat!")
    }
}
function dogClass() {
    this.say = function () {
        console.log("I am a dog!")
    }
}
var cat = new Animal(new catClass());
var dog = new Animal(new dogClass());

cat.say(); //I am a cat!
dog.say(); //I am a dog!