Immediately invoked function expression: Difference between revisions

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An '''immediately invoked function expression''' (or '''IIFE''', pronounced "iffy", [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] /ˈɪf.i/) is a [[Programming idiom|programming language idiom]] which produces a [[scope (computer science)|lexical scope]] using [[function scoping]]. It was popular in [[JavaScript]]<ref name="Alman">{{cite web|url=http://benalman.com/news/2010/11/immediately-invoked-function-expression/|title=Immediately Invoked Function Expressions|last=Alman|first=Ben|date=15 November 2010|website=|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201033208/http://benalman.com/news/2010/11/immediately-invoked-function-expression/|archive-date=1 December 2017|accessdate=18 January 2019}}</ref> as a method of supporting [[modular programming]] before the introduction of more standardized solutions such as [[CommonJS]] and [[ECMAScript#6th Edition – ECMAScript 2015|ES modules]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=McGinnis |first1=Tyler |title=JavaScript Modules: From IIFEs to CommonJS to ES6 Modules |url=https://ui.dev/javascript-modules-iifes-commonjs-esmodules/ |website=ui.dev |access-date=18 August 2021 |language=en |date=15 January 2019}}</ref>

Immediately invoked function expressions can be used to avoid [[JavaScript syntax#Scoping and hoisting|variable hoisting]] from within blocks, protectprotecting against polluting the [[Global variable|global environment]] and simultaneously allowallowing public access to methods while retaining privacy for variables defined within the function. In other words, it wraps functions and variables, keeping them out of the global scope and giving them a local scope.

== Usage ==

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Passing variables into the scope is done as follows:

<syntaxhighlight lang="JavaScriptjavascript">

(function(a, b) { /* ... */ })("hello", "world");

(function(a="hello", b="world") { /* ... */ })(); //also works

</syntaxhighlight>

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==Examples==

The key to understanding design patterns such as IIFE is to realize that prior to ES6, JavaScript only featured [[Scope (computer science)#Function scope|function scope]] (thus lacking [[Scope (computer science)#Block scope|block scope]]), passing [[Call_by_reference|values by reference]] inside [[Closure (computer science)|closure]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Haverbeke |first=Marijn |title=Eloquent JavaScript |year=2011 |publisher=No Starch Press |isbn=978-1-59327-282-1 |pages=29–30}}</ref> This is no longer the case, as the ES6 version of JavaScript implements block scoping using the new <code>let</code> and <code>const</code> keywords.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Orendorff |first1=Jason |title=ES6 In Depth: let and const |url=https://hacks.mozilla.org/2015/07/es6-in-depth-let-and-const/ |website=Mozilla Hacks – the Web developer blog |publisher=[[Mozilla]] |access-date=16 October 2024 |date=31 Jul 2015}}</ref><syntaxhighlight lang="javascript">

// Before ES6: Creating a scope using an IIFE

var foo = 1;

var bar = 2;

(function(){

var foo = 3; // shadows the outer `foo`

bar = 4; // overwrites the outer `bar`

})();

console.log(foo, bar); // 1 4

// Since ES6: Creating a scope using curly brackets in combination with let and const

const foo = 1;

let bar = 2;

{

const foo = 3; // shadows the outer `foo`

bar = 4; // overwrites the outer `bar`

}

console.log(foo, bar); // 1 4

</syntaxhighlight>

=== Evaluation context ===