What is the purpose of using negation before function declaration?

Question

In twitter bootstrap source code I found the following:

!function ($) {

  "use strict"; // jshint ;_;

I've never met such a construction before. What does it mean? It looks like IIFE, but I am not sure it is the equivalent.

I guess negation is used to convert the statement to expression, right? But why not using parentheses? — paperstreet7, Feb 16 '13 at 18:24

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 16 '13 at 18:24

6

It turns it into an expression, usually followed by (). It saves a byte over using parentheses, at the cost of wasting about a hundred StackOverflow questions.

answered Feb 16 '13 at 18:24

Niet the Dark Absol

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So don't waste it, but close it. – Bergi Feb 16 '13 at 18:27

What is the purpose of using negation before function declaration?

1 Answers1