[javascript] What's the difference between using "let" and "var"?

  • Variable Not Hoisting

    let will not hoist to the entire scope of the block they appear in. By contrast, var could hoist as below.

    {
       console.log(cc); // undefined. Caused by hoisting
       var cc = 23;
    }
    
    {
       console.log(bb); // ReferenceError: bb is not defined
       let bb = 23;
    }
    

    Actually, Per @Bergi, Both var and let are hoisted.

  • Garbage Collection

    Block scope of let is useful relates to closures and garbage collection to reclaim memory. Consider,

    function process(data) {
        //...
    }
    
    var hugeData = { .. };
    
    process(hugeData);
    
    var btn = document.getElementById("mybutton");
    btn.addEventListener( "click", function click(evt){
        //....
    });
    

    The click handler callback does not need the hugeData variable at all. Theoretically, after process(..) runs, the huge data structure hugeData could be garbage collected. However, it's possible that some JS engine will still have to keep this huge structure, since the click function has a closure over the entire scope.

    However, the block scope can make this huge data structure to garbage collected.

    function process(data) {
        //...
    }
    
    { // anything declared inside this block can be garbage collected
        let hugeData = { .. };
        process(hugeData);
    }
    
    var btn = document.getElementById("mybutton");
    btn.addEventListener( "click", function click(evt){
        //....
    });
    
  • let loops

    let in the loop can re-binds it to each iteration of the loop, making sure to re-assign it the value from the end of the previous loop iteration. Consider,

    // print '5' 5 times
    for (var i = 0; i < 5; ++i) {
        setTimeout(function () {
            console.log(i);
        }, 1000);  
    }
    

    However, replace var with let

    // print 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. now
    for (let i = 0; i < 5; ++i) {
        setTimeout(function () {
            console.log(i);
        }, 1000);  
    }
    

    Because let create a new lexical environment with those names for a) the initialiser expression b) each iteration (previosly to evaluating the increment expression), more details are here.

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