Question

Kangax blog has a code example: §

 try {
    (var x = 5); // grouping operator can only contain expression, not a statement (which `var` is)
  } catch(err) {
    // SyntaxError
  }

Since the syntax error at line 2 would affect the “syntax of the entire code”, what’s the point of the catch statement here?

Is catch able to catch syntax errors in JavaScript?

Answer 1

You are right, javascript parser will generate an error, so it will never catch it.

http://jsbin.com/oluje5/edit

Maybe his intention was to point out the wrong syntax (grouping operator can only contain expression, not a statement), but the try / catch statement is useless.

Moreover, the comment //syntaxError inside catch let suppose that the catch will do something.