𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗗𝗢𝗡’𝗧 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗝𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁'𝘀 finally {} 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸...

try{} and catch{} are easy:

• try{} runs code (and prevents script crash on error)
• catch{} handles the error

But finally{} 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗲.

Most people say:

"finally{} always runs after try{} or catch{}."

Correct… 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵.

Here’s the surprise:

You 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 finally{} to run code after try/catch in a simple block:

try { console.log(a) }
catch (error) { console.log(error) }
finally { console.log("The End") }

You could just place console.log("The End") after everything.

So… what’s the real purpose of finally{}?

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:

function main() {

 try {

 return a

 } catch (error) {

 return error

 } finally {

 console.log("The End")

 }

}

Normally, when a function hits return, the remaining code never executes.

But with finally{}, this line 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀, even if both try and catch returned.

That's the true magic of finally{} —

It 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 executes, even after a return, making it perfect for cleanup, logs, closing connections, releasing resources, etc.

I was confused about this early on, but once it clicked, it made advanced JS flow much clearer.

𝗣𝗦: Which JavaScript concept confused you the most when you first learned it?