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Concept
JavaScript syntax
Summary
The syntax of JavaScript is the set of rules that define a correctly structured JavaScript program.
The examples below make use of the log function of the console object present in most browsers for standard text output.
The JavaScript standard library lacks an official standard text output function (with the exception of document.write). Given that JavaScript is mainly used for client-side scripting within modern web browsers, and that almost all Web browsers provide the alert function, alert can also be used, but is not commonly used.
Brendan Eich summarized the ancestry of the syntax in the first paragraph of the JavaScript 1.1 specification as follows:
JavaScript borrows most of its syntax from Java, but also inherits from Awk and Perl, with some indirect influence from Self in its object prototype system.
JavaScript is case sensitive. It is common to start the name of a constructor with a capitalised letter, and the name of a function or variable with a lower-case letter.
Example:
var a = 5;
console.log(a); // 5
console.log(A); // throws a ReferenceError: A is not defined
Unlike in C, whitespace in JavaScript source can directly impact semantics. Semicolons end statements in JavaScript. Because of automatic semicolon insertion (ASI), some statements that are well formed when a newline is parsed will be considered complete, as if a semicolon were inserted just prior to the newline. Some authorities advise supplying statement-terminating semicolons explicitly, because it may lessen unintended effects of the automatic semicolon insertion.
There are two issues: five tokens can either begin a statement or be the extension of a complete statement; and five restricted productions, where line breaks are not allowed in certain positions, potentially yielding incorrect parsing.
The five problematic tokens are the open parenthesis "(", open bracket "[", slash "/", plus "+", and minus "-". Of these, the open parenthesis is common in the immediately invoked function expression pattern, and open bracket occurs sometimes, while others are quite rare.
Official source
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