[javascript] What is context in _.each(list, iterator, [context])?

As explained in other answers, context is the this context to be used inside callback passed to each.

I'll explain this with the help of source code of relevant methods from underscore source code

The definition of _.each or _.forEach is as follows:

_.each = _.forEach = function(obj, iteratee, context) {
  iteratee = optimizeCb(iteratee, context);

  var i, length;
  if (isArrayLike(obj)) {
    for (i = 0, length = obj.length; i < length; i++) {
      iteratee(obj[i], i, obj);
    }
  } else {
    var keys = _.keys(obj);
    for (i = 0, length = keys.length; i < length; i++) {
      iteratee(obj[keys[i]], keys[i], obj);
    }
  }
  return obj;
};

Second statement is important to note here

iteratee = optimizeCb(iteratee, context);

Here, context is passed to another method optimizeCb and the returned function from it is then assigned to iteratee which is called later.

var optimizeCb = function(func, context, argCount) {
  if (context === void 0) return func;
  switch (argCount == null ? 3 : argCount) {
    case 1:
      return function(value) {
        return func.call(context, value);
      };
    case 2:
      return function(value, other) {
        return func.call(context, value, other);
      };
    case 3:
      return function(value, index, collection) {
        return func.call(context, value, index, collection);
      };
    case 4:
      return function(accumulator, value, index, collection) {
        return func.call(context, accumulator, value, index, collection);
      };
  }
  return function() {
    return func.apply(context, arguments);
  };
};

As can be seen from the above method definition of optimizeCb, if context is not passed then func is returned as it is. If context is passed, callback function is called as

func.call(context, other_parameters);
          ^^^^^^^

func is called with call() which is used to invoke a method by setting this context of it. So, when this is used inside func, it'll refer to context.

_x000D_
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// Without `context`_x000D_
_.each([1], function() {_x000D_
  console.log(this instanceof Window);_x000D_
});_x000D_
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_x000D_
// With `context` as `arr`_x000D_
var arr = [1, 2, 3];_x000D_
_.each([1], function() {_x000D_
  console.log(this);_x000D_
}, arr);
_x000D_
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/underscore.js/1.8.3/underscore-min.js"></script>
_x000D_
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_x000D_

You can consider context as the last optional parameter to forEach in JavaScript.

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