Why use (function(){})() or !function(){}()? - javascript

I was reading In JavaScript, what is the advantage of !function(){}() over (function () {})()? then it hit me, why use :
(function(){})() or !function(){}() instead of just function(){}()?
Is there any specific reason?

It depends on where you write this. function(){}() by itself will generate a syntax error as it is evaluated as function declaration and those need names.
By using parenthesis or the not operator, you enforce it to be interpreted as function expression, which don't need names.
In case where it would be treated as expression anyway, you can omit the parenthesis or the operator.

I guess you are asking why use:
var fn = (function(){}());
versus:
var fn = function(){}();
The simple answer for me is that often the function on the RHS is long and it's not until I get to the bottom and see the closing () that I realise I've been reading a function expression and not a function assignment.
A full explanation is in Peter Michaux's An Important Pair of Parens.

A slight variation on RobG's answer.
Many scripts encompass the entire program in one function to ensure proper scoping. This function is then immediately run using the double parentheses at the end. However, this is slightly different then programs which define a function that can be used in the page but not run initially.
The only difference between these two scenarios is the last two characters (the addition of the double parentheses). Since these could be very long programs, the initial parenthesis is there to indicate that "this will be run immediately."
Is it necessary for the program to run? No. Is it helpful for someone looking at the code and trying to understand it? Yes.

Related

Testing out my understanding of expressions and statements with two examples [duplicate]

For the past few hours I have been trying to find the difference between the 3, not just the difference, I also have been trying to find out which are sort of synonymous, MDN calls all declarations "statements", so I presume that is true. However, none of the articles and SO questions I read provided me with a cheatsheet of sorts to distinguish between the 3 (or the 2, expressions vs statements).
Something I have noticed with statements is that they all somehow involve a special JavaScript keyword like break or for or var. The articles say that an expression evaluates to something, while a statement performs an action. What is a function then ? Is it a statement-expression hybrid (since it both performs an action when called, and returns a value) ? Right now, I am assuming that this is not the case since a function call does not involve a JavaScript keyword.
And then there are declarations, is every declaration also a statement ?
I am also aware of expression statements like 20 + 5 * 2 / 3;, but aren't these virtually useless ? Why would anyone pollute their code with a line like this ?
I would be more than glad if someone could ask the above questions (or at least some of them), or if someone could provide me with some sort of a cheatsheet. Why is there so little material on a topic that appears to be so simple in such a popular language ?
There are standard definitions of these terms that all languages, including JS, follow. My takes on them are the following:
An expression produces a value and can be written wherever a value is expected.
A statement on the other hand is is a standalone unit of execution. It does not return anything.
A declaration is a statement in which a value is assigned to a variable.
All declarations are statements, but not all statements are declarations.
Most statements and all declarations contain expressions.
Javadoc also gives nice, succinct definitions:
An expression is a construct made up of variables, operators, and method invocations, which are constructed according to the syntax of the language, that evaluates to a single value.
Statements are roughly equivalent to sentences in natural languages. A statement forms a complete unit of execution.
Now, your theory on keywords being necessarily involved is incorrect. Here is a statement that includes a keyword:
break;
And here is one that does not:
foo();
In the first example I execute a break, whereas in the second one I call a function. Both are statements, however only one includes any special keyword.
A function is not a statement. A function call is a statement, as demonstrated above. In the case of a function that returns something, the call can also be a declaration:
var bar = foo();
And for your final question, the reason there is so little material out there on this is because this is merely an issue of semantics. People do not linger on the exact definitions of these terms.
For further clarification, I recommend taking a look at this blog post by Axel Rauschmayer that specifically talks about the difference between statements and expressions in JS.
For the past few hours I have been trying to find the difference between the 3, not just the difference, I also have been trying to find out which are sort of synonymous, MDN calls all declarations "statements", so I presume that is true.
A declaration is any construct that "declares" a variable name into existence at compile/load time before the program executes. All declared names in their respective scopes are therefore known in advance.
Statements and expressions differ from each other in that the former does not produce a value a result, whereas the latter does. So an expression may be used anywhere a value is expected, and a statement may not be used in those places.
An expression statement is one where the statement is a single expression, or several included in an expression that requires zero or more sub-expressions. While the expression(s) produce a result, the statement does not.
Here's an expression:
x = foo() + 2
A full expression statement could be explicitly shown by adding a semicolon to the end.
x = foo() + 2;
The first example can be wrapped in a set of parens, because the parens as a grouping operator expects an expression, often provided as several expressions joined by the comma operator.
The second example can not be wrapped in parens (if you include the semicolon) because then it is a statement, and does not produce a value, which the grouping operator expects to receive and return as its own value.
Something I have noticed with statements is that they all somehow involve a special JavaScript keyword like break or for or var.
While most statements do involve a keyword, not all do. Most notably, the block statement has no keyword. Instead it uses a set of curly braces to delimit its start and end.
The articles say that an expression evaluates to something, while a statement performs an action. What is a function then ? Is it a statement-expression hybrid (since it both performs an action when called, and returns a value) ? Right now, I am assuming that this is not the case since a function call does not involve a JavaScript keyword.
There are three kinds of functions in JS. If you're talking about the ones that use the function keyword, then the may be either a declaration or an expression depending on its context.
If the function is used where an expression would be expected, then it's evaluated as an expression that returns a new function object. If not, then it is expected to be a declaration, which basically creates a variable with the function object assigned to it. As a declaration, a function name is required (for the variable name). As an expression, it's optional.
I am also aware of expression statements like 20 + 5 * 2 / 3;, but aren't these virtually useless ? Why would anyone pollute their code with a line like this ?
If the resulting value is ignored, it would be useless, given that example. But here's another expression statement.
foobar();
Now we have a side effect from the function call, which is most likely desired and useful.
Let's talk about expressions first. As you say, an expression is something that evaluates to a value. A function is a value. A function call, on the other hand, is an expression.
I don't agree with the characterization of a statement as something that "performs an action". As you say, calling a function involves running the function body, which consists of statements and declarations, so it performs actions "on the inside".
A better way to look at it is that expressions, statements, and declarations are syntactic categories. They arise from trying to describe the structure of the JavaScript grammar. See e.g. the ECMAScript 8 specification on expressions, statements, and declarations.
An expression statement like 20 + 5 * 2 / 3; is indeed useless because it has no effects, and the only point of a statement is its effects. But there are other kinds of much more useful expression statements:
a function call: foo();
assignment: x = 42; (= is an operator and can be used in expressions)
increment/decrement: i++; (similarly, ++ is an operator)
Statements other than expression statements tend to start with a special keyword to avoid syntactic ambiguity: The parser wants to be able to tell what kind of construct it is dealing with right from the start. Hence we get:
if statements: if (EXPR) STMT
while statements: while (EXPR) STMT
return statements: return; or return EXPR;
etc.
However, there are some statements that don't start with a keyword:
the empty statement: ;
a block: { ... }
Finally, declarations. In JavaScript the distinction between statements and declarations is somewhat arbitrary. The grammar distinguishes between the two, but in practice you can often treat them the same (e.g. the contents of a block statement are defined as a sequence of statement list items, and a statement list item is defined to be either a statement or a declaration). Declarations include:
function declarations: function foo() { ... } (including variants such as generators (function* foo() { ... }) and asynchronous functions (async function foo() { ... }))
let and const
class declarations
(But for some reason var foo; is classified as a statement, not a declaration.)

JavaScript: declarations vs expressions vs statements

For the past few hours I have been trying to find the difference between the 3, not just the difference, I also have been trying to find out which are sort of synonymous, MDN calls all declarations "statements", so I presume that is true. However, none of the articles and SO questions I read provided me with a cheatsheet of sorts to distinguish between the 3 (or the 2, expressions vs statements).
Something I have noticed with statements is that they all somehow involve a special JavaScript keyword like break or for or var. The articles say that an expression evaluates to something, while a statement performs an action. What is a function then ? Is it a statement-expression hybrid (since it both performs an action when called, and returns a value) ? Right now, I am assuming that this is not the case since a function call does not involve a JavaScript keyword.
And then there are declarations, is every declaration also a statement ?
I am also aware of expression statements like 20 + 5 * 2 / 3;, but aren't these virtually useless ? Why would anyone pollute their code with a line like this ?
I would be more than glad if someone could ask the above questions (or at least some of them), or if someone could provide me with some sort of a cheatsheet. Why is there so little material on a topic that appears to be so simple in such a popular language ?
There are standard definitions of these terms that all languages, including JS, follow. My takes on them are the following:
An expression produces a value and can be written wherever a value is expected.
A statement on the other hand is is a standalone unit of execution. It does not return anything.
A declaration is a statement in which a value is assigned to a variable.
All declarations are statements, but not all statements are declarations.
Most statements and all declarations contain expressions.
Javadoc also gives nice, succinct definitions:
An expression is a construct made up of variables, operators, and method invocations, which are constructed according to the syntax of the language, that evaluates to a single value.
Statements are roughly equivalent to sentences in natural languages. A statement forms a complete unit of execution.
Now, your theory on keywords being necessarily involved is incorrect. Here is a statement that includes a keyword:
break;
And here is one that does not:
foo();
In the first example I execute a break, whereas in the second one I call a function. Both are statements, however only one includes any special keyword.
A function is not a statement. A function call is a statement, as demonstrated above. In the case of a function that returns something, the call can also be a declaration:
var bar = foo();
And for your final question, the reason there is so little material out there on this is because this is merely an issue of semantics. People do not linger on the exact definitions of these terms.
For further clarification, I recommend taking a look at this blog post by Axel Rauschmayer that specifically talks about the difference between statements and expressions in JS.
For the past few hours I have been trying to find the difference between the 3, not just the difference, I also have been trying to find out which are sort of synonymous, MDN calls all declarations "statements", so I presume that is true.
A declaration is any construct that "declares" a variable name into existence at compile/load time before the program executes. All declared names in their respective scopes are therefore known in advance.
Statements and expressions differ from each other in that the former does not produce a value a result, whereas the latter does. So an expression may be used anywhere a value is expected, and a statement may not be used in those places.
An expression statement is one where the statement is a single expression, or several included in an expression that requires zero or more sub-expressions. While the expression(s) produce a result, the statement does not.
Here's an expression:
x = foo() + 2
A full expression statement could be explicitly shown by adding a semicolon to the end.
x = foo() + 2;
The first example can be wrapped in a set of parens, because the parens as a grouping operator expects an expression, often provided as several expressions joined by the comma operator.
The second example can not be wrapped in parens (if you include the semicolon) because then it is a statement, and does not produce a value, which the grouping operator expects to receive and return as its own value.
Something I have noticed with statements is that they all somehow involve a special JavaScript keyword like break or for or var.
While most statements do involve a keyword, not all do. Most notably, the block statement has no keyword. Instead it uses a set of curly braces to delimit its start and end.
The articles say that an expression evaluates to something, while a statement performs an action. What is a function then ? Is it a statement-expression hybrid (since it both performs an action when called, and returns a value) ? Right now, I am assuming that this is not the case since a function call does not involve a JavaScript keyword.
There are three kinds of functions in JS. If you're talking about the ones that use the function keyword, then the may be either a declaration or an expression depending on its context.
If the function is used where an expression would be expected, then it's evaluated as an expression that returns a new function object. If not, then it is expected to be a declaration, which basically creates a variable with the function object assigned to it. As a declaration, a function name is required (for the variable name). As an expression, it's optional.
I am also aware of expression statements like 20 + 5 * 2 / 3;, but aren't these virtually useless ? Why would anyone pollute their code with a line like this ?
If the resulting value is ignored, it would be useless, given that example. But here's another expression statement.
foobar();
Now we have a side effect from the function call, which is most likely desired and useful.
Let's talk about expressions first. As you say, an expression is something that evaluates to a value. A function is a value. A function call, on the other hand, is an expression.
I don't agree with the characterization of a statement as something that "performs an action". As you say, calling a function involves running the function body, which consists of statements and declarations, so it performs actions "on the inside".
A better way to look at it is that expressions, statements, and declarations are syntactic categories. They arise from trying to describe the structure of the JavaScript grammar. See e.g. the ECMAScript 8 specification on expressions, statements, and declarations.
An expression statement like 20 + 5 * 2 / 3; is indeed useless because it has no effects, and the only point of a statement is its effects. But there are other kinds of much more useful expression statements:
a function call: foo();
assignment: x = 42; (= is an operator and can be used in expressions)
increment/decrement: i++; (similarly, ++ is an operator)
Statements other than expression statements tend to start with a special keyword to avoid syntactic ambiguity: The parser wants to be able to tell what kind of construct it is dealing with right from the start. Hence we get:
if statements: if (EXPR) STMT
while statements: while (EXPR) STMT
return statements: return; or return EXPR;
etc.
However, there are some statements that don't start with a keyword:
the empty statement: ;
a block: { ... }
Finally, declarations. In JavaScript the distinction between statements and declarations is somewhat arbitrary. The grammar distinguishes between the two, but in practice you can often treat them the same (e.g. the contents of a block statement are defined as a sequence of statement list items, and a statement list item is defined to be either a statement or a declaration). Declarations include:
function declarations: function foo() { ... } (including variants such as generators (function* foo() { ... }) and asynchronous functions (async function foo() { ... }))
let and const
class declarations
(But for some reason var foo; is classified as a statement, not a declaration.)

Should I use a var per each require? [duplicate]

Reading Crockfords The Elements of JavaScript Style I notice he prefers defining variables like this:
var first='foo', second='bar', third='...';
What, if any benefit does that method provide over this:
var first='foo';
var second='bar';
var third='...';
Obviously the latter requires more typing but aside from aesthetics I'm wondering if there is a performance benefit gained by defining with the former style.
Aside of aesthetics, and download footprint, another reason could be that the var statement is subject to hoisting. This means that regardless of where a variable is placed within a function, it is moved to the top of the scope in which it is defined.
E.g:
var outside_scope = "outside scope";
function f1() {
alert(outside_scope) ;
var outside_scope = "inside scope";
}
f1();
Gets interpreted into:
var outside_scope = "outside scope";
function f1() {
var outside_scope; // is undefined
alert(outside_scope) ;
outside_scope = "inside scope";
}
f1();
Because of that, and the function-scope only that JavaScript has, is why Crockford recommends to declare all the variables at the top of the function in a single var statement, to resemble what will really happen when the code is actually executed.
Since JavaScript is generally downloaded to the client browser, brevity is actually quite a valuable attribute. The more bytes you have to download, the slower it gets. So yes, there is a reason apart from aesthetics, if not a massive one.
Similarly, you'll see people preferring shorter variable names to longer.
Personally, I don't bother minimising whitespace, as there are minimisers that can do this sort of thing for you (for example in YUI), and lack of indentation and spacing leads to less maintainable code.
No difference in semantics and no measurable difference in performance. Write whichever is clearest.
For simple examples like:
var first= 'foo', second= 'bar', third= 'bof';
the concise single-statement construct is probably a win for readability. On the other hand you can take this much too far and start writing half your program inside a single var statement. Here's a random example plucked from the jQuery source:
var name = match[1],
result = Expr.attrHandle[ name ] ?
Expr.attrHandle[ name ]( elem ) :
elem[ name ] != null ?
elem[ name ] :
elem.getAttribute( name ),
value = result + "",
type = match[2],
check = match[4];
I find this (by no means the worst example) a bit distasteful. Longer examples can get quite hard to read upwards (wait, I was in a var statement?) and you can end up counting the brackets to try to work out what's a multi-line expression and what's just an extended var block.
I believe that what he is going for is declaring all variables as abosultely the first statement in a function (You'll notice that JSLint complains about this if you use it and don't declare them on the first line). This is because of JavaScript's scope declaration limitations (or quirks). Crockford emphasizes this as good practice for maintainable JavaScript code. The second example declares them at the top, but not in the first execution statement. Personally, I see no reason as why to prefer the first over the second, but following the first does enforce that all variables are declared before doing anything else in the function.
David is right that the larger the script the more time it will take to down load, but in this case the difference between the two is minimal and can be handled by using YUI compress etc.
It's a personal programming style choice.
On the one hand there is readability, wherein placing each variable declaration on a separate line makes it more obvious what's going on.
On the other hand, there is brevity, wherein you're eliminating transmitting a few extra bytes over the network. It's generally not enough to worry about, unless you're dealing with slow networks or limited memory on the client browser side.
Brevity is also known as laziness on the part of the programmer, which is one reason that many purists avoid it.
It all comes down to personal taste or a set of style-guides, your development team follows. If you are serving JavaScript yourself, you usually compress or minify your script(s) into one long string in one single file. So the whole you-are-saving-bytes-and-your-scripts-download-faster argument is, well, not an argument :)
I usually declare my variables like this: (a style you didn't mention)
var something,
somethingElse,
evenMoreSomething,
andAnotherThing;
A statement like "var" is not minified/compressed.Every time you place a var, instead of a comma you lose 4 chars, if I count right.

What exactly does !function ($){...}(window.jQuery) do?

I'd like to know exactly what's going on here. I know what $(document).ready(function() {...}); does and when it comes into effect. Same goes for jQuery(function($) {...}.
But what does this do?
!function ($) {
$(function(){
var $window = $(window)
//normal jquery stuff
})
}(window.jQuery)
Is it loaded when jQuery is loaded instead of when the document is 'ready'?
It creates a closure in which the variable $ is assigned the value of window.jQuery.
The intention is to allow the uninformatively named variable $ to be used as a shortcut for jQuery without conflicting with the large number of other libraries and custom functions that also use $ as a variable name.
Using the ! operator before the function causes it to be treated as an expression
!function () {}()
The syntax you're looking at is used for setting up a jQuery closure. This is used to ensure that the jQuery $ variable is garuanteed to be available and correct within the code; ie it can't be overwritten in the global scope by anything else (which is possible if you're using multiple libraries, etc).
This technique is often used by jQuery plugin authors -- if you're interested in finding out more, the docs are here, and explain in more detail why you'd want to wrap your jQuery code in a function like this.
The only point of interest that's different in your example is that in the docs, the function is wrapped in brackets, whereas in the example you've given it's preceded by a !
The ! is a not operator, but doesn't actually get used for anything; I think it's just there instead of the brackets to save a single character of code. Probably helpful if you're into minifying javascript.
Not quite sure but I guess this is somewhat equivalent to (function(){})() approach and it's about js closures. And it ensures $ and jQuery are the same thing
The '!' is a 'not' operator. It doesn't do anything in the code. The only reason it is there is to signify that the function will execute immediately.
You may also see functions wrapped in parenthesis instead.
(function() {}());
Whatever is used is personal preference.

Why does 'onhashchange'in(window) work?

'onhashchange'in(window)
Having in() work is not a surprise, as new(XMLHTTPRequest) or typeof(x) are other examples of this construct, but not having to separate the string and in is.
Is this per ECMAScript specs? It works in Chrome and FF, haven't tested IE.
From what I can tell, there's no difference whether you wrap window in parenthesis or not in this particular instance. Either way, it checks for this member on the window object.
Might be less confusing if you use spaces:
'onhashchange' in (window)
The same as
'onhashchange' in window
in is not a function, but when you remove the spaces I can see how you read it as such. One advantage to wrapping window in parenthesis is that you can then minify the code:
'onhashchange'in(window)
Something you could not do without the parenthesis.
' is a token that ends a string, so a pair of '' are semantically unambiguous, you don't need whitespace after the end of a string for the lexer to know that it has reached the end of a string.
Another way of saying that is that this works for the same reason that 'Hello '+'world' works.
Additionally, in is a keyword, not a function. It seems like you're thinking of () as the "function call operator", but in this case it's just a disambiguating parentheses.
It's like asking "why does 1 +(2) work?" + doesn't become a function just because you follow it with a paren, and similarly the following will work:
function foo(){}
foo
();
Javascript is brittle with its whitespace rules.
I'm not sure if the notation is confusing you (that maybe in() is a method?), but in is one of those elements of JS that few people correctly understand (I didn't really understand it until quite recently). This is a simplified version showing what in does:
var foo = {
'bar':1,
'barbar':2
}
console.log('bar' in foo); //true
console.log('baz' in foo); //false
What makes this all the more confusing is that you can use in inside a for() loop, as if it (in) were an iterator. The way I tend to think of for loops is like this:
for (exp1; condition; exp2) {
/* statements */
}
for (condition) {
/* statements */
}
In other words, the loop will continue until the in condition fails, which will happen when it runs out of members.

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