Lets enter the Temporal Dead Zone 🐱‍👤

#javascript #firstpost

We are familiar with variable hoisting in JavaScript. If we try to access a variable (declared using var keyword) before assign it any value, we get undefined. But that's not the case with variables defined using let or const. If we try to access a variable (declared using let or const) before assigning it any value, we get ReferenceError.

Many people believe the reason behind this behavior is that let and const are not hoisted, which is not true. Just like var, they are hoisted, but what they lack is the initialization process which var goes through but let and const do not.

For let and const, initialization is only complete when a value is assigned to the variable; and the period from start of the block scope to initialization of value, where we receive ReferenceError, is known as the Temporal Dead Zone.

Wrapping up: All var, let and const are hoisted. But, unlike var, let and const do not go though initialization process. The time (zone) from start of block scope to actual initialization is called Temporal Dead Zone 🐱‍👤.

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