Arrow function expressions

An arrow function expression is a compact alternative to a traditional function expression, with some semantic differences and deliberate limitations in usage:

• Arrow functions don't have their own bindings to this, arguments, or super, and should not be used as methods.

• Arrow functions cannot be used as constructors. Calling them with new throws a TypeError. They also don't have access to the new.target keyword.

• Arrow functions cannot use yield within their body and cannot be created as generator functions.

Syntax

() => expression

param => expression

(param) => expression

(param1, paramN) => expression

() => {
  statements
}

param => {
  statements
}

(param1, paramN) => {
  statements
}

Rest parameters, default parameters, and destructuring within params are supported, and always require parentheses:

(a, b, ...r) => expression
(a = 400, b = 20, c) => expression
([a, b] = [10, 20]) => expression
({ a, b } = { a: 10, b: 20 }) => expression

Arrow functions can be async by prefixing the expression with the async keyword.

async param => expression
async (param1, param2, ...paramN) => {
  statements
}

Description

Let's decompose a traditional anonymous function down to the simplest arrow function step-by-step. Each step along the way is a valid arrow function.

Note: Traditional function expressions and arrow functions have more differences than their syntax. We will introduce their behavior differences in more detail in the next few subsections.

// Traditional anonymous function
(function (a) {
  return a + 100;
});

// 1. Remove the word "function" and place arrow between the argument and opening body bracket
(a) => {
  return a + 100;
};

// 2. Remove the body braces and word "return" — the return is implied.
(a) => a + 100;

// 3. Remove the parameter parentheses
a => a + 100;

In the example above, both the parentheses around the parameter and the braces around the function body may be omitted. However, they can only be omitted in certain cases.

The parentheses can only be omitted if the function has a single simple parameter. If it has multiple parameters, no parameters, or default, destructured, or rest parameters, the parentheses around the parameter list are required.

// Traditional anonymous function
(function (a, b) {
  return a + b + 100;
});

// Arrow function
(a, b) => a + b + 100;

const a = 4;
const b = 2;

// Traditional anonymous function (no parameters)
(function () {
  return a + b + 100;
});

// Arrow function (no parameters)
() => a + b + 100;

The braces can only be omitted if the function directly returns an expression. If the body has additional lines of processing, the braces are required — and so is the return keyword. Arrow functions cannot guess what or when you want to return.

// Traditional anonymous function
(function (a, b) {
  const chuck = 42;
  return a + b + chuck;
});

// Arrow function
(a, b) => {
  const chuck = 42;
  return a + b + chuck;
};

Arrow functions are always unnamed. If the arrow function needs to call itself, use a named function expression instead. You can also assign the arrow function to a variable so it has a name.

// Traditional Function
function bob(a) {
  return a + 100;
}

// Arrow Function
const bob2 = (a) => a + 100;

Function body

Arrow functions can have either a concise body or the usual block body.

In a concise body, only a single expression is specified, which becomes the implicit return value. In a block body, you must use an explicit return statement.

const func = (x) => x * x;
// concise body syntax, implied "return"

const func2 = (x, y) => {
  return x + y;
};
// with block body, explicit "return" needed

Returning object literals using the concise body syntax (params) => { object: literal } does not work as expected.

const func = () => { foo: 1 };
// Calling func() returns undefined!

const func2 = () => { foo: function () {} };
// SyntaxError: function statement requires a name

const func3 = () => { foo() {} };
// SyntaxError: Unexpected token '{'

This is because JavaScript only sees the arrow function as having a concise body if the token following the arrow is not a left brace, so the code inside braces ({}) is parsed as a sequence of statements, where foo is a label, not a key in an object literal.

To fix this, wrap the object literal in parentheses:

const func = () => ({ foo: 1 });

Cannot be used as methods

Arrow function expressions should only be used for non-method functions because they do not have their own this. Let's see what happens when we try to use them as methods:

"use strict";

const obj = {
  i: 10,
  b: () => console.log(this.i, this),
  c() {
    console.log(this.i, this);
  },
};

obj.b(); // logs undefined, Window { /* … */ } (or the global object)
obj.c(); // logs 10, Object { /* … */ }

Another example involving Object.defineProperty():

"use strict";

const obj = {
  a: 10,
};

Object.defineProperty(obj, "b", {
  get: () => {
    console.log(this.a, typeof this.a, this); // undefined 'undefined' Window { /* … */ } (or the global object)
    return this.a + 10; // represents global object 'Window', therefore 'this.a' returns 'undefined'
  },
});

Because a class's body has a this context, arrow functions as class fields close over the class's this context, and the this inside the arrow function's body will correctly point to the instance (or the class itself, for static fields). However, because it is a closure, not the function's own binding, the value of this will not change based on the execution context.

class C {
  a = 1;
  autoBoundMethod = () => {
    console.log(this.a);
  };
}

const c = new C();
c.autoBoundMethod(); // 1
const { autoBoundMethod } = c;
autoBoundMethod(); // 1
// If it were a normal method, it should be undefined in this case

Arrow function properties are often said to be "auto-bound methods", because the equivalent with normal methods is:

class C {
  a = 1;
  constructor() {
    this.method = this.method.bind(this);
  }
  method() {
    console.log(this.a);
  }
}

Note: Class fields are defined on the instance, not on the prototype, so every instance creation would create a new function reference and allocate a new closure, potentially leading to more memory usage than a normal unbound method.

For similar reasons, the call(), apply(), and bind() methods are not useful when called on arrow functions, because arrow functions establish this based on the scope the arrow function is defined within, and the this value does not change based on how the function is invoked.

No binding of arguments

Arrow functions do not have their own arguments object. Thus, in this example, arguments is a reference to the arguments of the enclosing scope:

const arguments = [1, 2, 3];
const arr = () => arguments[0];

arr(); // 1

function foo(n) {
  const f = () => arguments[0] + n; // foo's implicit arguments binding. arguments[0] is n
  return f();
}

foo(3); // 3 + 3 = 6

Note: You cannot declare a variable called arguments in strict mode, so the code above would be a syntax error. This makes the scoping effect of arguments much easier to comprehend.

In most cases, using rest parameters is a good alternative to using an arguments object.

function foo(n) {
  const f = (...args) => args[0] + n;
  return f(10);
}

foo(1); // 11

Cannot be used as constructors

Arrow functions cannot be used as constructors and will throw an error when called with new. They also do not have a prototype property.

const Foo = () => {};
const foo = new Foo(); // TypeError: Foo is not a constructor
console.log("prototype" in Foo); // false

Cannot be used as generators

The yield keyword cannot be used in an arrow function's body (except when used within generator functions further nested within the arrow function). As a consequence, arrow functions cannot be used as generators.

Line break before arrow

An arrow function cannot contain a line break between its parameters and its arrow.

const func = (a, b, c)
  => 1;
// SyntaxError: Unexpected token '=>'

For the purpose of formatting, you may put the line break after the arrow or use parentheses/braces around the function body, as shown below. You can also put line breaks between parameters.

const func = (a, b, c) =>
  1;

const func2 = (a, b, c) => (
  1
);

const func3 = (a, b, c) => {
  return 1;
};

const func4 = (
  a,
  b,
  c,
) => 1;

Precedence of arrow

Although the arrow in an arrow function is not an operator, arrow functions have special parsing rules that interact differently with operator precedence compared to regular functions.

let callback;

callback = callback || () => {};
// SyntaxError: invalid arrow-function arguments

Because => has a lower precedence than most operators, parentheses are necessary to avoid callback || () being parsed as the arguments list of the arrow function.

callback = callback || (() => {});

Examples

Using arrow functions

// An empty arrow function returns undefined
const empty = () => {};

(() => "foobar")();
// Returns "foobar"
// (this is an Immediately Invoked Function Expression)

const simple = (a) => (a > 15 ? 15 : a);
simple(16); // 15
simple(10); // 10

const max = (a, b) => (a > b ? a : b);

// Easy array filtering, mapping, etc.
const arr = [5, 6, 13, 0, 1, 18, 23];

const sum = arr.reduce((a, b) => a + b);
// 66

const even = arr.filter((v) => v % 2 === 0);
// [6, 0, 18]

const double = arr.map((v) => v * 2);
// [10, 12, 26, 0, 2, 36, 46]

// More concise promise chains
promise
  .then((a) => {
    // …
  })
  .then((b) => {
    // …
  });

// Parameterless arrow functions that are visually easier to parse
setTimeout(() => {
  console.log("I happen sooner");
  setTimeout(() => {
    // deeper code
    console.log("I happen later");
  }, 1);
}, 1);

Using call, bind, and apply

The call(), apply(), and bind() methods work as expected with traditional functions, because we establish the scope for each of the methods:

const obj = {
  num: 100,
};

// Setting "num" on globalThis to show how it is NOT used.
globalThis.num = 42;

// A simple traditional function to operate on "this"
const add = function (a, b, c) {
  return this.num + a + b + c;
};

console.log(add.call(obj, 1, 2, 3)); // 106
console.log(add.apply(obj, [1, 2, 3])); // 106
const boundAdd = add.bind(obj);
console.log(boundAdd(1, 2, 3)); // 106

With arrow functions, since our add function is essentially created on the globalThis (global) scope, it will assume this is the globalThis.

const obj = {
  num: 100,
};

// Setting "num" on globalThis to show how it gets picked up.
globalThis.num = 42;

// Arrow function
const add = (a, b, c) => this.num + a + b + c;

console.log(add.call(obj, 1, 2, 3)); // 48
console.log(add.apply(obj, [1, 2, 3])); // 48
const boundAdd = add.bind(obj);
console.log(boundAdd(1, 2, 3)); // 48

Perhaps the greatest benefit of using arrow functions is with methods like setTimeout() and EventTarget.prototype.addEventListener() that usually require some kind of closure, call(), apply(), or bind() to ensure that the function is executed in the proper scope.

With traditional function expressions, code like this does not work as expected:

const obj = {
  count: 10,
  doSomethingLater() {
    setTimeout(function () {
      // the function executes on the window scope
      this.count++;
      console.log(this.count);
    }, 300);
  },
};

obj.doSomethingLater(); // logs "NaN", because the property "count" is not in the window scope.

With arrow functions, the this scope is more easily preserved:

const obj = {
  count: 10,
  doSomethingLater() {
    // The method syntax binds "this" to the "obj" context.
    setTimeout(() => {
      // Since the arrow function doesn't have its own binding and
      // setTimeout (as a function call) doesn't create a binding
      // itself, the "obj" context of the outer method is used.
      this.count++;
      console.log(this.count);
    }, 300);
  },
};

obj.doSomethingLater(); // logs 11