What is the reason that the function variable doesn't display the entire function body when logged in the console?

Can you explain why the function variable, when logged in the console, does not display the entire function body but the toString() method does?

function person(name) {
    this.f_name = name;

    return function print_name (){
            alert("Your Name Is: " + this.f_name);
        }
  }

var myfunc = person('James');

  console.log(myfunc); // Dislays function print_name()

  console.log(myfunc.toString()); // Displays full function body

Answer №1

When you use console.log to display information that cannot be directly printed, the respective toString method is invoked to still provide a summary of the most important details about the function.

As explained on MDN, the toString method generates a string representation of the object in the form of a function declaration, including the function keyword, argument list, curly braces, and the source code of the function body.

This approach allows developers to debug without needing to access the internal details by easily viewing the function's source either in devtools or an editor.

In my comparison using various browsers' dev tools:

console.log(function(a, b) { return a + b; });

The outputs were different across browsers:

  • Firefox: function () - displays without arguments, clickable for more info
  • Chrome: function (a, b) { return a + b } - includes arguments, clicking reveals function source
  • Safari:
    function (a, b) { return a + b; }
    - shows arguments, non-clickable

While I couldn't test this in IE due to being on a Mac, the variation in outputs highlights how developer preferences dictate which browser to use as the console logging behavior is not consistent cross-browser.

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