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closures - uninitialized vs undefined · Issue #3895 · javascript-tutorial/en.javascript.info · GitHub
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closures - uninitialized vs undefined #3895

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@aredmondd

in this article, we are discussing lexical environments, and the scope of variables.
upon initialization, variables are defined as <unitialized> because "the engine knows about the variable, but it cannot be referenced until it has been declared with let"

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later in the article, when referencing nested lexical environments in functions, a variable is initialized as undefined. from my understanding, this is incorrect, as the engine knows about the variable, but is not referenced yet since it hasn't been declared.

Image Image

i believe that we need to change the following SVG's to reflect this change:
https://github.com/javascript-tutorial/en.javascript.info/blob/master/1-js/06-advanced-functions/03-closure/lexenv-nested-makecounter-2.svg
https://github.com/javascript-tutorial/en.javascript.info/blob/master/1-js/06-advanced-functions/03-closure/lexenv-nested-makecounter-3.svg

if this is an incorrect assumption, please help me understand why it's undefined instead of uninitialized! i'd love to learn more about how this all works.

Activity

  1. joaquinelio commented on Oct 19, 2025

    @joaquinelio
    Member

    I think at that point the execution already passed the let declaration,
    so it's not "uninitialized".

    note:
    chatgpt "partialy" agrees wirh a long explanation i didnt read.
    then concludes the issue is wrong.
    And offered a step by step correlation code-svg
    i didnt read either.
    Sorry my lazyness.

  2. sujayhegde23 commented on Jul 9, 2026

    @sujayhegde23

    @aredmondd
    could you mention which variable is initialized has undefined . are you referring to the counter variable?

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