Internal Function

[josulliv101]

Hi,
I have a very basic question. What is meant by the term "internal
function"? What makes it "internal"?

-newbie

 

[Evertjan.]

wrote on 06 okt 2005 in comp.lang.javascript:

I have a very basic question. What is meant by the term "internal
function"? What makes it "internal"?

That it comes with the language:

replace() is an internal function

myReplaceFunction() is not, but you can make it a function.

 

[Martin Honnen]

What is meant by the term "internal
function"? What makes it "internal"?

Where have you seen that term used, in which context? If someone has
used it here in the newsgroup then provide the id of the post so that we
have some context. Or post a URL where that has been used.

The ECMAScript specification defines the term as follows (edition 3
section 10.1.1):

"Internal functions are built-in objects of the language, such as
parseInt and Math.exp. An
implementation may also provide implementation-dependent internal
functions that are not described
in this specification. These functions do not contain executable code
defined by the ECMAScript
grammar, so they are excluded from this discussion of execution contexts."

and contrasts that to "program functions" defined as

"Program functions are defined in source text by a
FunctionDeclaration or created dynamically either
by using a FunctionExpression or by using the built-in Function object
as a constructor."

 

[josulliv101]

Hi,
Thanks for the info and the quick response. I did not see the term on
the forum, it was in a document at my work.

Thanks,
Joe