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Understanding JavaScript Closures
A focused guide to closures with plain-language explanations and examples you can use in interviews or day-to-day coding.
Feb 11, 2023.7 min read
Introduction
Closures are one of those JavaScript ideas that seem abstract until you see how often they appear in callbacks, factories, and hooks.
How They Work
A function keeps access to variables from its lexical scope. That is the entire core idea, and it unlocks a lot of useful patterns.
Real World Use
- Event handlers
- Private state inside factory functions
- Memoization helpers
- React Hooks and custom hooks
Conclusion
Once closures click, a lot of JavaScript starts to feel more intentional instead of magical.
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