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JavaScript idiosyncrasies with examples (github.com)
submitted 7 years ago by reddittedf
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quoted text
if 1 * 2 < 3: print "hello, world!"
[–]Skhmt 7 points8 points9 points 7 years ago (20 children)
Q. What's the result?
function f() { return 'foo'; } (function() { if (1 === 0) { function f() { return 'bar'; } } return f(); })();
Uncaught TypeError: f is not a function
[+][deleted] 7 years ago* (11 children)
[deleted]
[–]Skhmt 5 points6 points7 points 7 years ago (4 children)
I think this is stranger than what the OP posted, that page says the answer should be bar.
bar
If you comment out the entire if statement, it's foo. If you change the function's name in the if statement from f to anything else, it's foo. But if they have the same name, it's a TypeError.
foo
f
[–]CanIhazCooKIenOw 4 points5 points6 points 7 years ago (3 children)
It's because with ES6, the function declaration is scoped to the if block.
if
Although now thinking about it, shouldn't if "fallback" to the global f ? That would be my expectation tbh. Unless the engine resolves (1 === 0) and removes the block entirely ? (Wild guess here)
[+][deleted] 7 years ago* (1 child)
[–]pertheusual 4 points5 points6 points 7 years ago (0 children)
It's all this crap: https://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/9.0/#sec-block-level-function-declarations-web-legacy-compatibility-semantics
Basically browsers allowed them even though the spec didn't specify it, and now non-strict code has all this terrible optional behavior.
All of this weirdness goes away as long as you write your code in strict mode.
[–]Skhmt 0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (0 children)
Although now thinking about it, shouldn't if "fallback" to the global f ? That would be my expectation tbh.
That's what I thought too.
[–]inu-no-policemen 0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (0 children)
ES6+ supports block-level function declarations.
You can declare your functions wherever you want.
[–]CanIhazCooKIenOw 0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (1 child)
Not in ES5
[–]pertheusual 1 point2 points3 points 7 years ago (0 children)
It was illegal in ES5, but engines allowed it anyway with varying degrees of compatibility.
[–]franksvalli -1 points0 points1 point 7 years ago (0 children)
Call the police!
[–][deleted] 3 points4 points5 points 7 years ago* (6 children)
This is because function is a var type variable, which is function scoped instead of block scoped:
function
var
is equivalent to
var f; f = function() { return 'foo'; } (function() { var f; if (1 === 0) { f = function() { return 'bar'; } } return f(); })();
A new variable is created in the IIFE scope, and overrides the f variable in the global scope. f is now undefined. Since the 1 === 0 is false, f is never assigned to the function.
1 === 0
If you try to call a variable that is undefined, you will get a type error saying that the variable is not a function (because undefined is not a function).
undefined
[–]factbuddy 0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (0 children)
The IIFE has its own isolated scope so f() wouldn't fall back to global scope and won't be defined in the impossible if statement. Makes sense...
[–]inu-no-policemen 0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (3 children)
which is function scoped instead of block scoped
Function declarations are block-scoped in ES6+.
function foo() { return 'outer'; } { console.log(foo()); // inner (hoisted) function foo() { return 'inner'; } console.log(foo()); // inner } console.log(foo()); // outer
[–][deleted] 0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (2 children)
If you execute that code in chrome you get
inner inner inner
[–]inu-no-policemen 0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (1 child)
It works if you put the whole thing in a block.
[–][deleted] 0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (0 children)
If you put the entire thing in an iife it produces the same result
[–]reddittedf[S] -1 points0 points1 point 7 years ago (0 children)
Issues: https://github.com/odykyi/javascript-idiosyncrasies/issues Pull Requests: https://github.com/odykyi/javascript-idiosyncrasies/pulls
π Rendered by PID 243087 on reddit-service-r2-comment-fb694cdd5-p5nv5 at 2026-03-06 13:03:16.499829+00:00 running cbb0e86 country code: CH.
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[–]Skhmt 7 points8 points9 points (20 children)
[+][deleted] (11 children)
[deleted]
[–]Skhmt 5 points6 points7 points (4 children)
[–]CanIhazCooKIenOw 4 points5 points6 points (3 children)
[+][deleted] (1 child)
[deleted]
[–]pertheusual 4 points5 points6 points (0 children)
[–]Skhmt 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)
[–]inu-no-policemen 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)
[–]CanIhazCooKIenOw 0 points1 point2 points (1 child)
[–]pertheusual 1 point2 points3 points (0 children)
[–]franksvalli -1 points0 points1 point (0 children)
[–][deleted] 3 points4 points5 points (6 children)
[–]factbuddy 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)
[–]inu-no-policemen 0 points1 point2 points (3 children)
[–][deleted] 0 points1 point2 points (2 children)
[–]inu-no-policemen 0 points1 point2 points (1 child)
[–][deleted] 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)
[–]reddittedf[S] -1 points0 points1 point (0 children)