Question

Why does this work:

a = []
a.push(['test']);
(function() {alert('poop')})()

But this gives the error “number is not a function”:

a = []
a.push(['test'])
(function() {alert('poop')})()

The only difference is the semicolon at the end of line 2. I’ve been writing JavaScript for a long time now. I know about automatic semicolon insertion, but I can’t figure out what would be causing this error.

Answer 1

Take a look at this example of chained function calls.

a.push(['test'])(function() {alert('poop')})()

Look familiar? This is how the compiler/interpreter views your code.

Detail

Here is a portion of the grammar used to describe call expressions.

CallExpression : 
	MemberExpression Arguments 
	CallExpression Arguments 
	CallExpression [ Expression ] 
	CallExpression . IdentifierName 

Essentially each group (…) is considered as Arguments to the original MemberExpression a.push.

a.push (['test'])                // MemberExpression Arguments 
(function() {alert('poop')})     // Arguments  
()                               // Arguments 

Or more formally

CallExpression(
    CallExpression(  
        CallExpression(
            MemberExpression( a.push ),
            Arguments( (['test']) )
        ),
        Arguments( (function() {alert('poop')}) )
    ),
    Arguments( () )
)