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Have you ever encountered the term “closure” in JavaScript and felt a bit puzzled about what it really means? Fear not, because in this article, we’ll break down the concept of closures in a simple and straightforward manner, accompanied by practical examples.
Understanding closures is essential for any JavaScript developer, as it empowers you to write more efficient and modular code.
What are Closures?
In JavaScript, a closure is not some obscure, magical concept. At its core, a closure is created when a function is defined within another function, allowing the inner function to access the outer function’s variables. This might sound a bit abstract, so let’s dive into a practical example to demystify it.
function outerFunction() {
let outerVariable = 'I am outside!';
function innerFunction() {
console.log(outerVariable);
}
return innerFunction;
}
const closureExample = outerFunction();
closureExample(); // Outputs: I am outside!
In this example, innerFunction
is defined inside outerFunction
. When outerFunction
is called, it returns innerFunction
, creating a closure…