Protocol Methods

These methods implement JavaScript's built-in protocols, enabling Color instances to behave naturally in string interpolation, JSON serialization, and type coercion contexts.

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toString()

Returns the Hex8 representation of the color. Automatically invoked in string contexts.

Signature

toString(): string

Returns

• string: The Hex8 representation of the color (e.g., #FF0000FF).

Invoked By

• String(color)
• Template literals: `${color}`
• Object.prototype.toString()

Example

const red = new Color("#ff0000");
console.log(`The color is ${red}`);
console.log(String(red)); 

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toJSON()

Returns the Hex8 representation for JSON serialization. Automatically invoked by JSON.stringify().

Signature

toJSON(): string

Returns

• string: The Hex8 representation of the color (e.g., #FF0000FF).

Invoked By

• JSON.stringify()

Example

const red = new Color("#ff0000");
console.log(JSON.stringify(red));

const palette = { primary: red, secondary: new Color("blue") };
console.log(JSON.stringify(palette));

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[Symbol.toPrimitive]()

Handles type coercion when the engine needs a primitive value. Returns different representations based on the requested hint.

Signature

[Symbol.toPrimitive](hint: string): string | number | Color

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
hint	string	The coercion hint: "string", "number", or "default".

Returns

Hint	Return Type	Value
"string"	string	The Hex8 representation.
"number"	number	Integer parsed from the hex value (Hex6 if fully opaque, Hex8 otherwise).
"default"	Color	The Color instance itself.

Example

const red = new Color("#ff0000");

// String hint
console.log(`${red}`);

// Number hint
console.log(+red); 

// With alpha
const semi = new Color("rgba(255, 0, 0, 0.5)");
console.log(+semi);