What does the arguments passed to a javascript closure do? - javascript

How do I explain the role of the arguments passed in the beginning vs end of a wrapped Javascript closure as the one shown below?
(function($, window) {
return $(function() {
return alert("js!");
});
})($, window);

The first appearance are function parameters, the second is passing values for those parameters when executing the function.
Keep in mind, the parameters to the function don't need to match the names being passed (this could, in fact, cause confusion later on):
(function(jQuery, w) {
return jQuery(function(){
return alert("js!");
});
})($, window);
Would work the same way.

In that way you are passing arguments that will be safe in the scope from an overwrite in the future. For example:
var a = 1
(function(a){
setTimeout(function(){
console.log('This variable is still safe', a);
},2000)
})(a)
a = 0
console.log('has changed', a)
So in your example you can be sure that $ and window will be that what you are expecting.

It may be easier to explain if you change the argument names and name the function
(function init($, win) {
return $(function() {
return alert("js!");
});
})(jQuery, window);
The init function is being passed the parameters jQuery and window immediately as it's defined, they are available as arguments to the init function as $ and win
If you break it out into the equivalent code, that may also be easier to understand
function init($, win) {
return $(function() {
return alert("js!");
});
}
init(jQuery, window);

The set of parameters on top is where the parameters are recieved, and the set of parameters on the bottom is where they are passed.
They're ensuring that their closed copies of the global variables don't get reassigned outside of the closure. It is a way of protecting your code against other (potentially poorly written) code. Consider this example:
var $ = 'foo';
var blah = (function($) {
return function () {
alert($);
};
})($);
var shizzam = (function() {
return function () {
alert($);
};
})();
// someone evil overwrites my $ var
$ = 'bar';
// blah still works
blah();
// but shizzam is now borked
shizzam();
http://jsfiddle.net/xfTcq/

When a function returns another function it can be enclosed on parentesis to be immediate executed.
The last parenthesis are the passed arguments to it.
You can do some tests do understand:
var a (function(){});
typeof a;
a.toSource()
typeof (function(){});
(function(){}).toSource()

Related

how does this function expression work?

Function express CANNOT be used before being declared correct? But is also passed in a keypress function as well. How is this magic happening?
I am doing a code along and noticed it while I was looking over it.
var controller = (function(budgetCtrl, UICtrl){
var setUpEventListeners = function(){
//CTRLADDITEM is called below
document.querySelector(DOM.inputBtn).addEventListener('click', **ctrlAddItem**);
document.addEventListener('keypress', function(e){
if(event.keyCode === 13 || event.which === 13){
**ctrlAddItem();**
}
});
}
var **ctrlAddItem** = function(){
updateBudget();
}
};
}
})(budgetController, UIController );
This is called IIFE (Immediately Invoked Function Expression) and it's fairly common in Javascript as well as other languages like Go. Here is a simple version...
(function() {
alert('invoked immediately');
})();
This code will run immediately. Note: it is not invoked before it is defined. It is invoked by the trailing parenthesis, which come directly after it is defined. It is the exact same thing as doing this...
function doSomething() {
}
doSomething();
We have just inlined the function by wrapping it in parenthesis and then called it (), instead of calling it by name.
If you assign the result to a variable, it works just as expected, you are assigning the result of the function.
// these two are equivalent
var result = (function () {
return 5;
})();
var result = 5;
Now, the value in result will equal 5.
Why do we use them?
Most commonly, we use them to isolate the scope of your code to prevent it from polluting the global scope. For example, if this is your application code...
function MyApp() {
}
You have now polluted the global scope by creating window.MyApp. If you use a third party library that also provides a function on the global scope called MyApp, it will override yours. To prevent that, we can do...
(function(window) {
function MyApp() {}
MyApp();
})(window);
Now, MyApp is not attached to the window and we still have access to the window.
Further down the rabbit hole
You must convert your function from a declaration to an expression before you can invoke it immediately. To do this, you wrap it in parenthesis.
This does NOT work
function (){
// do something
}()
This DOES work (thanks to the parenthesis)
(function () {
})()
You can also use any unary operator instead of parenthesis. All of these work
~function () {
}()
+function () {
}()
-function () {
}()
void function () {
}()
What you have is:
// Pass ctrlAddItem
document.querySelector(DOM.inputBtn).addEventListener('click', ctrlAddItem);
// Include closure to ctrlAddItem in function expression
document.addEventListener('keypress', function(e){
if(event.keyCode === 13 || event.which === 13){
ctrlAddItem();
}
});
// later...
var ctrlAddItem = function(){ /* whatever */ }
So ctrlAddItem is declared, and therefore exists with a value of undefined before any code is executed. At the point it's used in addEventListener, its value is still undefined.
However, before the outer function completes (and before the listeners are called), ctrlAddItem is assigned a value. So by the time the listeners are called, it's a (reference to a) function.

function inside function with same name in javascript

If I pass function to a function with same function name and handler name, which one will get precedence ? and how to access each of those two inside function in case in need to do recursion as well as refer to the passed function. See below code.
var f1,f2;
(function f(f){
return typeof f(f2); /*please check below comments for output of this line*/
})(function(f1){ return 1; });
/* this will call the passed function,why not recursion will not happen here? */
The function parameter gets precedence over the function's own name. If you shadow or overwrite a variable, you can't access it (unless it's a shadowed global).
Solution is to use different names.
The recursion doesn't happen simply because the argument of the function get precendence than the function itself. here is an example that shows it:
(function f (f) {
return f.name;
}) (function funcName () { }); // this will return funcName
if we change the name of the argument to f1, f will become the reference of the function itself
(function f (f1) {
return f.name;
}) (function funcName () { }); // this will return f
I see that you use jquery. So I want to ask where do you have declared your functions? inside
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){
function f(){
return 'this is local function inside anonymous function, so it's invisible for recursion in aside of current document ready'
}
});
//or here?
function f(){
return 'this function is a window object property, and must be visible for recursion';
}
</script>

Adding a function to global windows object

I was playing around with javascript objects to understand "this" and function context better. I stumbled across this problem. I get the error "obj2 is not defined" unless I run window.obj2() after assigning it, but I don't know why. Shouldn't it be enough to assign the function to window.obj2 without also executing it immediately afterwards? I know that you're not supposed to pollute the window object, this is just a test.
Thanks!
window.obj2 = function(){
console.log('obj2 in window.object',this);
}
window.obj2(); // problem when this line is commented out
(function () {
var parent = {
obj : function(){
//console.log(this);
obj2();
this.obj2();
window.obj2();
},
obj2 :function(){
console.log('obj2 in parent',this);
}
}
parent.obj();
}());
EXPLANATION
OP asks why does he have to execute the function after defining it in order for it to become defined later in the code... See what happens when you comment out the problem line.
Solution to the mystery:
You forgot a semicolon:
window.obj2 = function(){
console.log('obj2 in window.object',this);
}; // <--
Without it, the code will be interpreted as
// I'm naming the functions to refer to them later
window.obj2 = function a(){
...
}(function b() { ... }());
I.e. the parenthesis around b are interpreted as call operation of a (just like you did with b itself: (function b() {...}()).
The engine first executes b in order to pass the return value as argument to a, and only after that the return value is assigned to window.obj2.
So, at the moment b is called, window.obj2 does indeed not exist yet.
So, the reason why adding window.obj2() makes it work is not because you are accessing window.obj2, but because it makes the code un-ambigious. The following parenthesis cannot be interpreted as call operation anymore. You could use any statement there, e.g.
window.obj2 = function(){
console.log('obj2 in window.object',this);
}
"foo";
(function () {
obj2();
}());
If you defined function window.obj2 inside the anonymous function which does call itself then it works fine, have a look code.
<script>
//window.obj2(); // problem
(function (window) {
window.obj2 = function(){
console.log('obj2 in window.object',this);
}
var parent = {
obj : function(){
//console.log(this);
obj2();
this.obj2();
window.obj2();
},
obj2 :function(){
console.log('obj2 in parent',this);
}
}
parent.obj();
}(window));
</script>
<body>
</body>

What is difference between these two functions?

I have tried folllowing two ways of referring a function:
First
let a = function() {
somefunction();
}
Second
let a = somefunction;
Where somefunction is the following in both cases:
function somefunction() {
alert("hello");
}
Is there any difference between these two ways?
Yes, there is a difference between your two examples.
In the first case, you are defining a new anonymous (unnamed) function which calls somefunction. You are then assigning your new function definition to the variable a. a holds a reference to your new function.
In the second case, you are simply assigning your original function of somefunction to the variable a. The variable a then holds a reference to somefunction. You are not creating a new function as you are in the first case.
I think this example may make the difference clear. arguments is an array like object that contains each of the arguments passed to a function.
Try running each of these lines on your favorite browser console.
var somefunction = function() { console.log(arguments); };
Your first example demonstrates defining a named function a that closes around the named function somefunction.
var a = function() { somefunction(); };
Your second example makes a reference, b, directly to somefunction. This makes invoking b the same as invoking somefunction.
var b = somefunction;
Now if you call each of these a and b with some arguments you will see the difference.
=> a('a', 1);
[]
=> b('a', 1);
['a', 1]
In the first case the arguments object is empty. That's because the arguments that were passed to a were not forwarded onto somefunction.
In the second case the arguments are available to somefunction, because some function is being called directly.
Here is how you could redefine a so that it were functionally equivalent using apply
var a = function() { somefunction.apply(this, arguments); }
Running this at your console prints the argument array.
=> a('a', 1);
['a', 1]
var a = function(){
somefunction();
}
Is an Anonymous Function attributed to a variable.
somefunction :function() {
alert("hello");
}
Is an declaration of a function throungh the Object Literal notation.
The diference are shown when you are creating an object. The anonymous function are not acessible as a "public" method, instead in the Object Literal notation, that are acessible from outside.
As Douglas Crockford said, in JS the Good Parts, the first declaration are just a function and the second one could be a method.
In the first case, you are creating a function which calls someFunction(), then you assign that function to a, so now calling a() calls an anonymous function which in turn calls someFunction().
In the second case, a and someFunction become the exact same thing, calling a() is the same as calling someFunction().
The way you're setting var a by accessing the function is clearly out of scope.
So I suspect you have a typo : instead of = :
var somefunction = function() {
alert("hello");
};
somefunction(); // hello
...Now that your first and second makes sense with the code above:
Anonymous Function stored in variable:
var a = function(){
alert('Hey');
somefunction();
};
a(); // Hey // hello
Variable as Function Reference
var a = somefunction;
a(); // hello
In the other case than:
var objLiteral = {
somefunction : function() {
alert("hello");
}
};
var a = objLiteral.somefunction;
a(); // hello

Javascript Anonymous Closure

I have read a lot about closures in Javascript
What are those braces for??
I read on mozilla.org which says closure should be defined as
(function(){...})();
but on http://www.adequatelygood.com/JavaScript-Module-Pattern-In-Depth.html, it says the closure function is
(function(){...}());
What's the difference or the latter one is wrong?
what's the purpose of the last ()? Would you put some parameters inside?
I am looking for a good reference.
Edit:
Moreover, there is an example on Mozilla.org
var makeCounter = function() {
var privateCounter = 0;
function changeBy(val) {
privateCounter += val;
}
return {
increment: function() {
changeBy(1);
},
decrement: function() {
changeBy(-1);
},
value: function() {
return privateCounter;
}
}
};
why the semicolon is needed for this 'function'? If it needs to be invoked immediately after its declaration, a () should be put before the ending semicolon. But there is not.
The syntax
(function(){...})()
is simply an immediately invoked anonymous function. It does not matter how you use your brackets, as the underlying code is a function being declared, and invoked.
Closures are instead used to describe a situation where a function has access to variables declared outside of its scope, accessible via closures
For clarity :
If we have the following function
function hello() {
alert("Hello");
}
We can call the function with the following
hello()
Which invokes the function 'hello'. But if we do not wish to give it a name, but still invoke it, then we can do
(function hello() {
alert("Hello");
})()
Which will do the exact same as the previous example of calling hello
However, in this scenario there is no point in giving the function the name 'hello', so we can simply remove it:
(function() {
alert("Hello");
})()
Which is the notation used in your original question.
Your example shows an Immediately Invoked Function Expression, or IIFE. It says to the interpreter:
here is a function
it has no name
keep it away from the global scope ie 'window'
call it now
Yes, you can put parameters inside the last (). For example:
(
function(username){
alert("Hello " + username);
}
)("John Smith")
Closures are a feature of javascript that allows us to implement data hiding which is roughly equivalent to private variables in languages like C++ or Java.
function getBmiCalculator(height, weight) {
// These are private vars
var height = height;
var weight = weight;
function calculateBmi(){
return weight / (height * height);
}
return calculateBmi;
}
var calc = getBmiCalculator(1.85, 90);
// calc still has access to the scope where height and weight live.
var bmi = calc();
alert(bmi);
In this example, height & weight cannot be garbage-collected until calc is destroyed. The section of memory or "scope" where height & weight exist are "Closed Over"
There is no difference. You can also do so:
true && function(){ /* code */ }();
0,function(){ /* code */ }();
!function(){ /* code */ }(); // Facebook style
~function(){ /* code */ }();
-function(){ /* code */ }();
+function(){ /* code */ }();
// with new
new function(){ /* code */ }
new function(){ /* code */ }() // if you need arguments then use brackets
the grouping operator can surround the function description as without call parentheses, and also including call parentheses. I.e. both expressions below are correct FE:
(function () {})();
(function () {}());
Function Expression

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