Link Details

I don't know about "essential"...I've coded Javascript for 8 years and have never needed any of those.

Also, modifying Javascript primitives is not a wise thing to do unless you're in a small, static, 100% custom (i.e. no 3rd party libraries) environment.

I don't think small or static have anything to do with whether its wise to modify primitives. The prototype property was provided for a reason.

My point was that a small application that doesn't use 3rd party libraries or code shouldn't really have a problem with it. It's when you start mixing in lots of external JS that you can run into trouble. How can you reliably guarantee that the 3rd-party code doesn't also make modifications to the natives? And when this code-collision happens, then what? Either your code is going to break some 3rd-party code, or some 3rd-party code is going to break your code. It WILL happen, but only when you least expect it (of course).