Question

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Are “(function ( ) { } ) ( )” and “(function ( ) { } ( ) )” functionally equal in JavaScript?

This is something I haven’t quite figured out yet, but I have been using function(){}() just because my VIM syntax highlight screws up if I add the parenthesis, although I’ve seen (function(){})() around many times, maybe its an IE thing?

edit:

var singleton = function() {     // code }();  var singleton = (function() {     // code })(); 

Answer 1

Peter Michaux discusses the difference in An Important Pair of Parens.

Basically the parentheses are a convention to denote that an immediately invoked function expression is following, not a plain function. Especially if the function body is lengthy, this reduces surprises,