What is the reason for calling specific functions as "illegal invocations" in JavaScript?

Imagine this scenario:

var q = document.querySelectorAll;

q('body');

Suddenly, an "Illegal invocation" error pops up in Chrome. It's puzzling why this happens, especially considering that not all native code functions behave this way. Take for example:

var o = Object; // a native code function

var x = new o();

Here, everything runs smoothly without any errors. This issue seems to mainly arise when working with the document and console objects. What are your thoughts on this matter?

Answer №1

One reason for this issue is the loss of the function's "context."

For example, when you make a call like:

document.querySelectorAll()

the context of the function is tied to document, and can be accessed as this within that method.

However, if you simply call q, there is no explicit context - it defaults to the global window object instead.

As a result, when querySelectorAll attempts to reference this, it encounters the Window object, not a DOM element. This mismatch causes errors in the interpretation process.

To address this problem, utilize the newer Javascript feature .bind:

var q = document.querySelectorAll.bind(document);

This approach ensures that subsequent calls to q maintain the correct context. If .bind is unavailable, an alternative solution involves creating a function like this:

function q() {
    return document.querySelectorAll.apply(document, arguments);
}

Answer №2

Here's a simple way to achieve this:

const selectAll = document.querySelectorAll;
selectAll.apply(document, ['body']);

Answer №3

My experience involved encountering an Illegal invocation error, which was caused by passing an undeclared variable as an argument to a function. Remember to always declare variables before passing them to functions.

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