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What are the rules for Javascript's automatic semicolon insertion?
I've also heard that Go insert them too, but they followed a different approach
How does Javascript insert semicolons while interpreting?
Any reference would be helpful
One of the biggest things I've found is, let's say you have a function that returns coordinates (or any object really), similar to this.
function getCoordinates() {
return
{
x: 10,
y: 10
};
}
You would expect to get back an object right? WRONG! You get back undefined. The interpreter converts the code into this
function getCoordinates() {
return;
{
x: 10,
y: 10
};
}
Since return
by itself is a valid statement. You need to be sure to write the return as follows
function getCoordinates() {
return {
x: 10,
y: 10
};
}
Javascript assumes end of statement at any line break where it's possible. For example this:
return
true;
is interpreted as:
return;
true;
turning the return and it's argument into two separate statements, which of course means that the function has no return value (returns undefined).
I wrote a blog entry about that a while back.
The example that taught me the pitfalls of this particular feature was this one in the "Strangest language feature?" question. (Which is why I was for reopening that question, by the way - it is a valuable learning resource.)
Good reference material can be found here: What are the rules for Javascript's automatic semicolon insertion?