Jan 2012 05

Javascript: Self-Executing Anonymous Functions0

Posted In Web Development

When writing functions in Javascript that you only need to run as soon as it’s created and not have to reference again, you can create a self-executing anonymous function using the syntax:

(function(){
        // your code goes here
})();

In jQuery, you can have your anonymous function called after the document is ready as in

$(document).ready(function() {
        (function(){
             //your code for the module
        })();
});

If you’re not using jQuery and want your anonymous function to be called after the page loads (as opposed to immediately before the page finishes loading), you can do

(function(){
    // your code goes here

    // add event listener to trigger function call on page load
    if (window.attachEvent) {
        window.attachEvent('onload', addHiddenFields);
    } else {
        window.addEventListener("load", addHiddenFields, false);
    }
})();

Another benefit is it doesn’t pollute the global namespace by not overriding other functions. To learn more, visit http://briancrescimanno.com/2009/09/24/how-self-executing-anonymous-functions-work/  and http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8248974/executing-jquery-functions-on-dom-ready-from-inside-a-module

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