Learning JavaScript

Scope

The next critical characteristic of a variable is its scope: whether it’s local to a specific function or global to the entire JavaScript application. A variable with local scope is one that’s defined, initialized, and used within a function; when the function terminates, the variable ceases to exist. A global variable, on the other hand, can be accessed anywhere within any JavaScript contained within a web page—whether the JS is embedded directly in the page or imported through a JavaScript library.

In Chapter 1, I mentioned that there is no special syntax necessary to specifically define a variable. A variable can be both created and instantiated in the same line of code, and it need not look any different from a typical assignment statement:

num_value = 3.5;

This is a better approach:

var num_value = 3.5;

The difference between the two is the use of the var keyword.

Though not required, explicitly defining a variable using the var keyword is strongly recommended; doing so with local variables helps prevent collision between local and global variables of the same name. If a variable is explicitly defined in a function, its scope is restricted to the function, and any reference to that variable within the function is understood by both developer and JavaScript engine to be that local variable. With the growing popularity of larger, more complex JS libraries, using var prevents the unexpected side effects created by using what you think is a local variable, only to find out it’s ...