What is the correct behavior when a property in an object is shadowed by a prototype property?

When a property in an object is shadowed by a prototype property, the object's property takes precedence during lookup. This means that if you try to access a property on the object, JavaScript will check the object first before looking up the prototype chain.

If the object has its own property with the same name as a property in its prototype, the object's property will be used in place of the prototype's property. This behavior is part of JavaScript's prototype-based inheritance model, where object properties can effectively "override" prototype properties in a way that allows for more specific or varied behavior tailored to the individual instance of the object.

In practical terms, if you have an object that defines a certain property, and that property name exists on the prototype, trying to access that property through the object references the object's own definition, hence ignoring the prototype definition for that specific case. This allows for flexibility and customization of object behavior without altering or removing prototype properties.