Question about functions and variables in JavaScript

Question

Just wondering the difference in these 2 functions...

function getArea(width, height) {
  return width * height;
}




function getArea(width, height) {
  var area = width * height;
  return area;
}

I guess my question is, what is the point in the second example by storing the parameters in a variable?

Generally, the reason to create a variable is to hold a value that will be needed more than one time. If it's a safe bet that that won't be the case, adding a variable just adds clutter. (IMHO). — Scott Marcus
– Scott Marcus, Commented Mar 28, 2019 at 21:18

Dalija Prasnikar · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-12 12:58:02Z

2

The point to expanding your code this way would be for:

Code Readability. It's clearer in the second example as to what's going on because the variable acts as documentation in a way.
Debugging. In the 2nd example you can break on the return to see the value of area.
Code Style - many devs prefer one or the other for their own style.

On the other side, the benefit of not doing this would be:

The first example creates one less local variable, which is a smaller memory footprint.
Smaller line count. Some devs care about line counts and short code, not my thing, but to some it matters.

Dalija Prasnikar♦

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answered Mar 28, 2019 at 21:15

Steven Stark

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1 Comment

Ahhh okay. Thanks for the side by side comparison and contrast!