How to check whether an object is a date?

I have an annoying bug in on a webpage:


date.GetMonth() is not a function

So, I suppose that I am doing something wrong. The variable date is not an object of type Date. How can I check for a datatype in Javascript? I tried to add a if (date), but it doesn't work.

function getFormatedDate(date) {
    if (date) {
       var month = date.GetMonth();
    }
}

So, if I want to write defensive code and prevent the date (which is not one) to be formatted, how do I do that?

Thanks!

UPDATE: I don't want to check the format of the date, but I want to be sure that the parameter passed to the method getFormatedDate() is of type Date.

As an alternative to duck typing via

typeof date.getMonth === 'function'

you can use the instanceof operator, i.e. But it will return true for invalid dates too, e.g. new Date('random_string') is also instance of Date

date instanceof Date

This will fail if objects are passed across frame boundaries.

A work-around for this is to check the object's class via

Object.prototype.toString.call(date) === '[object Date]'

Be aware, that the instanceof solution doesn't work when using multiple realms:

JavaScript execution environments (windows, frames, etc.) are each in their own realm. This means that they have different built-ins (different global object, different constructors, etc.). This may result in unexpected results. For instance, [] instanceof window.frames[0].Array will return false, because Array.prototype !== window.frames[0].Array.prototype and arrays in the current realm inherit from the former.

Stack Overflow Q#643782, score: 1587