Confusion about Object.create() vs Object Literals

Question

I am currently completing the front-end web development course offered by Meta.

I am confused with the usage of Object.create() and Object Literals. Let's use the following code for the reference:

let bird = {
  hasWings: true,
  canFly: true,
  hasFeathers: true
};

let eagle = bird;
console.log("Eagle can fly: ", eagle.canFly); //"Eagle can fly: " true
eagle.canFly = false;
console.log("Eagle can fly: ", eagle.canFly); // "Eagle can fly: " false

let penguin = Object.create(bird);
penguin.canFly = false;
console.log("Penguin can fly: ", penguin.canFly); //"Penguin can fly: " false

If I can achieve the same results by simply using the object literals like in case of eagle, then what difference does using Object.create()` make in the case of penguin?

I tried to take help from ChatGPT, but it was confusing.

Answer 1

Using your code, I could rewrite something like this:

let bird = {
  hasWings: true,
  canFly: true,
  hasFeathers: true
};

let eagle = bird;
console.log("Eagle can fly: ", eagle.canFly); //"Eagle can fly: " true
eagle.canFly = false;
console.log("Eagle can fly: ", eagle.canFly); // "Eagle can fly: " false

// but you changed BIRD also!!!
console.log("Bird can fly: ", bird.canFly); // Bird cannot fly :(
bird.canFly = true;
console.log("Bird can fly: ", bird.canFly); // Bird can fly again :)
// but you changed EAGLE again!
console.log("Eagle can fly: ", eagle.canFly); // Eagle can fly again, even if you set false before

To avoid those problems, Object.create() will give you a new object without any references from other objects.

let eagle = Object.create(bird);

Something like that.