Skip to main content Skip to docs navigation

First-Class Function

A programming language is said to have First-class functions when functions in that language are treated like any other variable. For example, in such a language, a function can be passed as an argument to other functions, can be returned by another function and can be assigned as a value to a variable.

On this page

Examples

Assigning a function to a variable

js
                                        
                                            const
                                            foo
                                            =
                                            (
                                            )
                                            =>
                                            {
                                            console.
                                            log
                                            (
                                            "foobar"
                                            )
                                            ;
                                            }
                                            ;
                                            foo
                                            (
                                            )
                                            ;
                                            // Invoke it using the variable
                                            // foobar
                                        
                                    

We assigned an Anonymous Function in a Variable , then we used that variable to invoke the function by adding parentheses () at the end.

Note: Even if your function was named, you can use the variable name to invoke it. Naming it will be helpful when debugging your code. But it won't affect the way we invoke it.

Passing a function as an argument

js
                                        
                                            function
                                            sayHello
                                            (
                                            )
                                            {
                                            return
                                            "Hello, "
                                            ;
                                            }
                                            function
                                            greeting
                                            (
                                            
                                                helloMessage,
                                                name
                                            
                                            )
                                            {
                                            console.
                                            log
                                            (
                                            helloMessage
                                            (
                                            )
                                            +
                                            name)
                                            ;
                                            }
                                            // Pass `sayHello` as an argument to `greeting` function
                                            greeting
                                            (
                                            sayHello,
                                            "JavaScript!"
                                            )
                                            ;
                                            // Hello, JavaScript!
                                        
                                    

We are passing our sayHello() function as an argument to the greeting() function, this explains how we are treating the function as a value.

Note: The function that we pass as an argument to another function is called a callback function . sayHello() is a callback function.

Returning a function

js
                                        
                                            function
                                            sayHello
                                            (
                                            )
                                            {
                                            return
                                            (
                                            )
                                            =>
                                            {
                                            console.
                                            log
                                            (
                                            "Hello!"
                                            )
                                            ;
                                            }
                                            ;
                                            }
                                        
                                    

In this example, we are returning a function from another function - We can return a function because functions in JavaScript are treated as values.

Note: A function that returns a function or takes other functions as arguments is called a higher-order function .

See also

Updated on April 20, 2024 by Datarist.