function hoisting like var

[Lars Hansen]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Igor Bukanov [mailto:igor at mir2.org]
> Sent: 25. juli 2008 14:36
> To: Lars Hansen
> Cc: waldemar at google.com; es3.x-discuss at mozilla.org; es4-
> discuss at mozilla.org; Ingvar von Schoultz
> Subject: Re: function hoisting like var
> 
> One way to get that extension comes from an observation that ES4
> allows to drop the  braces around function body and the return keyword
> if the body is the single return exp. If ES3.1 would support it, then
> to simulate an effect of let expression like
> 
>   let (a = arg1, b = arg2) expression
> 
> one could write
> 
>   (function(a, b) expression)(arg1, arg2)
> 
> or
> 
>   (function(a, b) a = arg1, b = arg2, expression)()
> 
> If, in addition to this shortcut, ES4 would allow to drop an empty
> argument list from a function with a requirement that function { }
> always means an expression and ES3.1 would also support that, then in
> place of a block with let variables one can write:
> 
> function {
> 
> }();

Even neater, using default argument values the syntax is actually

  (function (a=arg1, b=arg2) expression)()

at which point 'let' is a trivial transformation.

--lars