JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 6th Edition

Constants and Scoped Variables

We now leave language subsets behind and transition to language extensions. In JavaScript 1.5 and later, you can use the const keyword to define constants. Constants are like variables except that assignments to them are ignored (attempting to alter a constant does not cause an error) and attempts to redeclare them cause errors:

const pi = 3.14;  // Define a constant and give it a value.
pi = 4;           // Any future assignments to it are silently ignored.
const pi = 4;     // It is an error to redeclare a constant.
var pi = 4;       // This is also an error.

The const keyword behaves much like the var keyword: there is no block scope, and constants are hoisted to the top of the enclosing function definition. (See Function Scope and Hoisting)

The lack of block scope for variables in JavaScript has long been considered a shortcoming of the language, and JavaScript 1.7 addresses it by adding the let keyword to the language. The keyword const has always been a reserved (but unused) word in JavaScript, so constants can be added without breaking any existing code. The let keyword was not reserved, so it is not recognized unless you explicitly opt-in to version 1.7 or later.

JavaScript Versions

In this chapter, when we refer to a specific JavaScript version number, we’re referring specifically to Mozilla’s version of the language, as implemented in the Spidermonkey and Rhino interpreters and the Firefox web browser.

Some of the language extensions here define new keywords (such ...