ECMAScript® 2024 Language Specification

Draft ECMA-262 / July 26, 2023

19.2 Function Properties of the Global Object

19.2.1 eval ( x )

This function is the %eval% intrinsic object.

It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Return ? PerformEval(x, false, false).

19.2.1.1 PerformEval ( x, strictCaller, direct )

The abstract operation PerformEval takes arguments x (an ECMAScript language value), strictCaller (a Boolean), and direct (a Boolean) and returns either a normal completion containing an ECMAScript language value or a throw completion. It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Assert: If direct is false, then strictCaller is also false.
  2. If x is not a String, return x.
  3. Let evalRealm be the current Realm Record.
  4. NOTE: In the case of a direct eval, evalRealm is the realm of both the caller of eval and of the eval function itself.
  5. Perform ? HostEnsureCanCompileStrings(evalRealm).
  6. Let inFunction be false.
  7. Let inMethod be false.
  8. Let inDerivedConstructor be false.
  9. Let inClassFieldInitializer be false.
  10. If direct is true, then
    1. Let thisEnvRec be GetThisEnvironment().
    2. If thisEnvRec is a Function Environment Record, then
      1. Let F be thisEnvRec.[[FunctionObject]].
      2. Set inFunction to true.
      3. Set inMethod to thisEnvRec.HasSuperBinding().
      4. If F.[[ConstructorKind]] is derived, set inDerivedConstructor to true.
      5. Let classFieldInitializerName be F.[[ClassFieldInitializerName]].
      6. If classFieldInitializerName is not empty, set inClassFieldInitializer to true.
  11. Perform the following substeps in an implementation-defined order, possibly interleaving parsing and error detection:
    1. Let script be ParseText(StringToCodePoints(x), Script).
    2. If script is a List of errors, throw a SyntaxError exception.
    3. If script Contains ScriptBody is false, return undefined.
    4. Let body be the ScriptBody of script.
    5. If inFunction is false and body Contains NewTarget, throw a SyntaxError exception.
    6. If inMethod is false and body Contains SuperProperty, throw a SyntaxError exception.
    7. If inDerivedConstructor is false and body Contains SuperCall, throw a SyntaxError exception.
    8. If inClassFieldInitializer is true and ContainsArguments of body is true, throw a SyntaxError exception.
  12. If strictCaller is true, let strictEval be true.
  13. Else, let strictEval be IsStrict of script.
  14. Let runningContext be the running execution context.
  15. NOTE: If direct is true, runningContext will be the execution context that performed the direct eval. If direct is false, runningContext will be the execution context for the invocation of the eval function.
  16. If direct is true, then
    1. Let lexEnv be NewDeclarativeEnvironment(runningContext's LexicalEnvironment).
    2. Let varEnv be runningContext's VariableEnvironment.
    3. Let privateEnv be runningContext's PrivateEnvironment.
  17. Else,
    1. Let lexEnv be NewDeclarativeEnvironment(evalRealm.[[GlobalEnv]]).
    2. Let varEnv be evalRealm.[[GlobalEnv]].
    3. Let privateEnv be null.
  18. If strictEval is true, set varEnv to lexEnv.
  19. If runningContext is not already suspended, suspend runningContext.
  20. Let evalContext be a new ECMAScript code execution context.
  21. Set evalContext's Function to null.
  22. Set evalContext's Realm to evalRealm.
  23. Set evalContext's ScriptOrModule to runningContext's ScriptOrModule.
  24. Set evalContext's VariableEnvironment to varEnv.
  25. Set evalContext's LexicalEnvironment to lexEnv.
  26. Set evalContext's PrivateEnvironment to privateEnv.
  27. Push evalContext onto the execution context stack; evalContext is now the running execution context.
  28. Let result be Completion(EvalDeclarationInstantiation(body, varEnv, lexEnv, privateEnv, strictEval)).
  29. If result.[[Type]] is normal, then
    1. Set result to Completion(Evaluation of body).
  30. If result.[[Type]] is normal and result.[[Value]] is empty, then
    1. Set result to NormalCompletion(undefined).
  31. Suspend evalContext and remove it from the execution context stack.
  32. Resume the context that is now on the top of the execution context stack as the running execution context.
  33. Return ? result.
 Note

The eval code cannot instantiate variable or function bindings in the variable environment of the calling context that invoked the eval if either the code of the calling context or the eval code is strict mode code. Instead such bindings are instantiated in a new VariableEnvironment that is only accessible to the eval code. Bindings introduced by let, const, or class declarations are always instantiated in a new LexicalEnvironment.

19.2.1.2 HostEnsureCanCompileStrings ( calleeRealm )

The host-defined abstract operation HostEnsureCanCompileStrings takes argument calleeRealm (a Realm Record) and returns either a normal completion containing unused or a throw completion. It allows host environments to block certain ECMAScript functions which allow developers to interpret and evaluate strings as ECMAScript code.

An implementation of HostEnsureCanCompileStrings must conform to the following requirements:

The default implementation of HostEnsureCanCompileStrings is to return NormalCompletion(unused).

19.2.1.3 EvalDeclarationInstantiation ( body, varEnv, lexEnv, privateEnv, strict )

The abstract operation EvalDeclarationInstantiation takes arguments body (a ScriptBody Parse Node), varEnv (an Environment Record), lexEnv (a Declarative Environment Record), privateEnv (a PrivateEnvironment Record or null), and strict (a Boolean) and returns either a normal completion containing unused or a throw completion. It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Let varNames be the VarDeclaredNames of body.
  2. Let varDeclarations be the VarScopedDeclarations of body.
  3. If strict is false, then
    1. If varEnv is a Global Environment Record, then
      1. For each element name of varNames, do
        1. If varEnv.HasLexicalDeclaration(name) is true, throw a SyntaxError exception.
        2. NOTE: eval will not create a global var declaration that would be shadowed by a global lexical declaration.
    2. Let thisEnv be lexEnv.
    3. Assert: The following loop will terminate.
    4. Repeat, while thisEnv is not varEnv,
      1. If thisEnv is not an Object Environment Record, then
        1. NOTE: The environment of with statements cannot contain any lexical declaration so it doesn't need to be checked for var/let hoisting conflicts.
        2. For each element name of varNames, do
          1. If ! thisEnv.HasBinding(name) is true, then
            1. Throw a SyntaxError exception.
            2. NOTE: Annex B.3.4 defines alternate semantics for the above step.
          2. NOTE: A direct eval will not hoist var declaration over a like-named lexical declaration.
      2. Set thisEnv to thisEnv.[[OuterEnv]].
  4. Let privateIdentifiers be a new empty List.
  5. Let pointer be privateEnv.
  6. Repeat, while pointer is not null,
    1. For each Private Name binding of pointer.[[Names]], do
      1. If privateIdentifiers does not contain binding.[[Description]], append binding.[[Description]] to privateIdentifiers.
    2. Set pointer to pointer.[[OuterPrivateEnvironment]].
  7. If AllPrivateIdentifiersValid of body with argument privateIdentifiers is false, throw a SyntaxError exception.
  8. Let functionsToInitialize be a new empty List.
  9. Let declaredFunctionNames be a new empty List.
  10. For each element d of varDeclarations, in reverse List order, do
    1. If d is not either a VariableDeclaration, a ForBinding, or a BindingIdentifier, then
      1. Assert: d is either a FunctionDeclaration, a GeneratorDeclaration, an AsyncFunctionDeclaration, or an AsyncGeneratorDeclaration.
      2. NOTE: If there are multiple function declarations for the same name, the last declaration is used.
      3. Let fn be the sole element of the BoundNames of d.
      4. If declaredFunctionNames does not contain fn, then
        1. If varEnv is a Global Environment Record, then
          1. Let fnDefinable be ? varEnv.CanDeclareGlobalFunction(fn).
          2. If fnDefinable is false, throw a TypeError exception.
        2. Append fn to declaredFunctionNames.
        3. Insert d as the first element of functionsToInitialize.
  11. Let declaredVarNames be a new empty List.
  12. For each element d of varDeclarations, do
    1. If d is either a VariableDeclaration, a ForBinding, or a BindingIdentifier, then
      1. For each String vn of the BoundNames of d, do
        1. If declaredFunctionNames does not contain vn, then
          1. If varEnv is a Global Environment Record, then
            1. Let vnDefinable be ? varEnv.CanDeclareGlobalVar(vn).
            2. If vnDefinable is false, throw a TypeError exception.
          2. If declaredVarNames does not contain vn, then
            1. Append vn to declaredVarNames.
  13. NOTE: Annex B.3.2.3 adds additional steps at this point.
  14. NOTE: No abnormal terminations occur after this algorithm step unless varEnv is a Global Environment Record and the global object is a Proxy exotic object.
  15. Let lexDeclarations be the LexicallyScopedDeclarations of body.
  16. For each element d of lexDeclarations, do
    1. NOTE: Lexically declared names are only instantiated here but not initialized.
    2. For each element dn of the BoundNames of d, do
      1. If IsConstantDeclaration of d is true, then
        1. Perform ? lexEnv.CreateImmutableBinding(dn, true).
      2. Else,
        1. Perform ? lexEnv.CreateMutableBinding(dn, false).
  17. For each Parse Node f of functionsToInitialize, do
    1. Let fn be the sole element of the BoundNames of f.
    2. Let fo be InstantiateFunctionObject of f with arguments lexEnv and privateEnv.
    3. If varEnv is a Global Environment Record, then
      1. Perform ? varEnv.CreateGlobalFunctionBinding(fn, fo, true).
    4. Else,
      1. Let bindingExists be ! varEnv.HasBinding(fn).
      2. If bindingExists is false, then
        1. NOTE: The following invocation cannot return an abrupt completion because of the validation preceding step 14.
        2. Perform ! varEnv.CreateMutableBinding(fn, true).
        3. Perform ! varEnv.InitializeBinding(fn, fo).
      3. Else,
        1. Perform ! varEnv.SetMutableBinding(fn, fo, false).
  18. For each String vn of declaredVarNames, do
    1. If varEnv is a Global Environment Record, then
      1. Perform ? varEnv.CreateGlobalVarBinding(vn, true).
    2. Else,
      1. Let bindingExists be ! varEnv.HasBinding(vn).
      2. If bindingExists is false, then
        1. NOTE: The following invocation cannot return an abrupt completion because of the validation preceding step 14.
        2. Perform ! varEnv.CreateMutableBinding(vn, true).
        3. Perform ! varEnv.InitializeBinding(vn, undefined).
  19. Return unused.
 Note

An alternative version of this algorithm is described in B.3.4.

19.2.2 isFinite ( number )

This function is the %isFinite% intrinsic object.

It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Let num be ? ToNumber(number).
  2. If num is not finite, return false.
  3. Otherwise, return true.

19.2.3 isNaN ( number )

This function is the %isNaN% intrinsic object.

It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Let num be ? ToNumber(number).
  2. If num is NaN, return true.
  3. Otherwise, return false.
 Note

A reliable way for ECMAScript code to test if a value X is NaN is an expression of the form X !== X. The result will be true if and only if X is NaN.

19.2.4 parseFloat ( string )

This function produces a Number value dictated by interpretation of the contents of the string argument as a decimal literal.

It is the %parseFloat% intrinsic object.

It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Let inputString be ? ToString(string).
  2. Let trimmedString be ! TrimString(inputString, start).
  3. Let trimmed be StringToCodePoints(trimmedString).
  4. Let trimmedPrefix be the longest prefix of trimmed that satisfies the syntax of a StrDecimalLiteral, which might be trimmed itself. If there is no such prefix, return NaN.
  5. Let parsedNumber be ParseText(trimmedPrefix, StrDecimalLiteral).
  6. Assert: parsedNumber is a Parse Node.
  7. Return StringNumericValue of parsedNumber.
 Note

This function may interpret only a leading portion of string as a Number value; it ignores any code units that cannot be interpreted as part of the notation of a decimal literal, and no indication is given that any such code units were ignored.

19.2.5 parseInt ( string, radix )

This function produces an integral Number dictated by interpretation of the contents of string according to the specified radix. Leading white space in string is ignored. If radix coerces to 0 (such as when it is undefined), it is assumed to be 10 except when the number representation begins with "0x" or "0X", in which case it is assumed to be 16. If radix is 16, the number representation may optionally begin with "0x" or "0X".

It is the %parseInt% intrinsic object.

It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Let inputString be ? ToString(string).
  2. Let S be ! TrimString(inputString, start).
  3. Let sign be 1.
  4. If S is not empty and the first code unit of S is the code unit 0x002D (HYPHEN-MINUS), set sign to -1.
  5. If S is not empty and the first code unit of S is either the code unit 0x002B (PLUS SIGN) or the code unit 0x002D (HYPHEN-MINUS), set S to the substring of S from index 1.
  6. Let R be ℝ(? ToInt32(radix)).
  7. Let stripPrefix be true.
  8. If R ≠ 0, then
    1. If R < 2 or R > 36, return NaN.
    2. If R ≠ 16, set stripPrefix to false.
  9. Else,
    1. Set R to 10.
  10. If stripPrefix is true, then
    1. If the length of S is at least 2 and the first two code units of S are either "0x" or "0X", then
      1. Set S to the substring of S from index 2.
      2. Set R to 16.
  11. If S contains a code unit that is not a radix-R digit, let end be the index within S of the first such code unit; otherwise, let end be the length of S.
  12. Let Z be the substring of S from 0 to end.
  13. If Z is empty, return NaN.
  14. Let mathInt be the integer value that is represented by Z in radix-R notation, using the letters A through Z and a through z for digits with values 10 through 35. (However, if R = 10 and Z contains more than 20 significant digits, every significant digit after the 20th may be replaced by a 0 digit, at the option of the implementation; and if R is not one of 2, 4, 8, 10, 16, or 32, then mathInt may be an implementation-approximated integer representing the integer value denoted by Z in radix-R notation.)
  15. If mathInt = 0, then
    1. If sign = -1, return -0𝔽.
    2. Return +0𝔽.
  16. Return 𝔽(sign × mathInt).
 Note

This function may interpret only a leading portion of string as an integer value; it ignores any code units that cannot be interpreted as part of the notation of an integer, and no indication is given that any such code units were ignored.

19.2.6 URI Handling Functions

Uniform Resource Identifiers, or URIs, are Strings that identify resources (e.g. web pages or files) and transport protocols by which to access them (e.g. HTTP or FTP) on the Internet. The ECMAScript language itself does not provide any support for using URIs except for functions that encode and decode URIs as described in this section. encodeURI and decodeURI are intended to work with complete URIs; they assume that any reserved characters are intended to have special meaning (e.g., as delimiters) and so are not encoded. encodeURIComponent and decodeURIComponent are intended to work with the individual components of a URI; they assume that any reserved characters represent text and must be encoded to avoid special meaning when the component is part of a complete URI.

Note 1

The set of reserved characters is based upon RFC 2396 and does not reflect changes introduced by the more recent RFC 3986.

 Note 2

Many implementations of ECMAScript provide additional functions and methods that manipulate web pages; these functions are beyond the scope of this standard.

19.2.6.1 decodeURI ( encodedURI )

This function computes a new version of a URI in which each escape sequence and UTF-8 encoding of the sort that might be introduced by the encodeURI function is replaced with the UTF-16 encoding of the code point that it represents. Escape sequences that could not have been introduced by encodeURI are not replaced.

It is the %decodeURI% intrinsic object.

It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Let uriString be ? ToString(encodedURI).
  2. Let preserveEscapeSet be ";/?:@&=+$,#".
  3. Return ? Decode(uriString, preserveEscapeSet).

19.2.6.2 decodeURIComponent ( encodedURIComponent )

This function computes a new version of a URI in which each escape sequence and UTF-8 encoding of the sort that might be introduced by the encodeURIComponent function is replaced with the UTF-16 encoding of the code point that it represents.

It is the %decodeURIComponent% intrinsic object.

It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Let componentString be ? ToString(encodedURIComponent).
  2. Let preserveEscapeSet be the empty String.
  3. Return ? Decode(componentString, preserveEscapeSet).

19.2.6.3 encodeURI ( uri )

This function computes a new version of a UTF-16 encoded (6.1.4) URI in which each instance of certain code points is replaced by one, two, three, or four escape sequences representing the UTF-8 encoding of the code point.

It is the %encodeURI% intrinsic object.

It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Let uriString be ? ToString(uri).
  2. Let extraUnescaped be ";/?:@&=+$,#".
  3. Return ? Encode(uriString, extraUnescaped).

19.2.6.4 encodeURIComponent ( uriComponent )

This function computes a new version of a UTF-16 encoded (6.1.4) URI in which each instance of certain code points is replaced by one, two, three, or four escape sequences representing the UTF-8 encoding of the code point.

It is the %encodeURIComponent% intrinsic object.

It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Let componentString be ? ToString(uriComponent).
  2. Let extraUnescaped be the empty String.
  3. Return ? Encode(componentString, extraUnescaped).

19.2.6.5 Encode ( string, extraUnescaped )

The abstract operation Encode takes arguments string (a String) and extraUnescaped (a String) and returns either a normal completion containing a String or a throw completion. It performs URI encoding and escaping, interpreting string as a sequence of UTF-16 encoded code points as described in 6.1.4. If a character is identified as unreserved in RFC 2396 or appears in extraUnescaped, it is not escaped. It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Let len be the length of string.
  2. Let R be the empty String.
  3. Let alwaysUnescaped be the string-concatenation of the ASCII word characters and "-.!~*'()".
  4. Let unescapedSet be the string-concatenation of alwaysUnescaped and extraUnescaped.
  5. Let k be 0.
  6. Repeat, while k < len,
    1. Let C be the code unit at index k within string.
    2. If unescapedSet contains C, then
      1. Set k to k + 1.
      2. Set R to the string-concatenation of R and C.
    3. Else,
      1. Let cp be CodePointAt(string, k).
      2. If cp.[[IsUnpairedSurrogate]] is true, throw a URIError exception.
      3. Set k to k + cp.[[CodeUnitCount]].
      4. Let Octets be the List of octets resulting by applying the UTF-8 transformation to cp.[[CodePoint]].
      5. For each element octet of Octets, do
        1. Let hex be the String representation of octet, formatted as an uppercase hexadecimal number.
        2. Set R to the string-concatenation of R, "%", and StringPad(hex, 2, "0", start).
  7. Return R.
 Note

Because percent-encoding is used to represent individual octets, a single code point may be expressed as multiple consecutive escape sequences (one for each of its 8-bit UTF-8 code units).

19.2.6.6 Decode ( string, preserveEscapeSet )

The abstract operation Decode takes arguments string (a String) and preserveEscapeSet (a String) and returns either a normal completion containing a String or a throw completion. It performs URI unescaping and decoding, preserving any escape sequences that correspond to Basic Latin characters in preserveEscapeSet. It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Let len be the length of string.
  2. Let R be the empty String.
  3. Let k be 0.
  4. Repeat, while k < len,
    1. Let C be the code unit at index k within string.
    2. Let S be C.
    3. If C is the code unit 0x0025 (PERCENT SIGN), then
      1. If k + 3 > len, throw a URIError exception.
      2. Let escape be the substring of string from k to k + 3.
      3. Let B be ParseHexOctet(string, k + 1).
      4. If B is not an integer, throw a URIError exception.
      5. Set k to k + 2.
      6. Let n be the number of leading 1 bits in B.
      7. If n = 0, then
        1. Let asciiChar be the code unit whose numeric value is B.
        2. If preserveEscapeSet contains asciiChar, set S to escape. Otherwise, set S to asciiChar.
      8. Else,
        1. If n = 1 or n > 4, throw a URIError exception.
        2. Let Octets be « B ».
        3. Let j be 1.
        4. Repeat, while j < n,
          1. Set k to k + 1.
          2. If k + 3 > len, throw a URIError exception.
          3. If the code unit at index k within string is not the code unit 0x0025 (PERCENT SIGN), throw a URIError exception.
          4. Let continuationByte be ParseHexOctet(string, k + 1).
          5. If continuationByte is not an integer, throw a URIError exception.
          6. Append continuationByte to Octets.
          7. Set k to k + 2.
          8. Set j to j + 1.
        5. Assert: The length of Octets is n.
        6. If Octets does not contain a valid UTF-8 encoding of a Unicode code point, throw a URIError exception.
        7. Let V be the code point obtained by applying the UTF-8 transformation to Octets, that is, from a List of octets into a 21-bit value.
        8. Set S to UTF16EncodeCodePoint(V).
    4. Set R to the string-concatenation of R and S.
    5. Set k to k + 1.
  5. Return R.
 Note

RFC 3629 prohibits the decoding of invalid UTF-8 octet sequences. For example, the invalid sequence 0xC0 0x80 must not decode into the code unit 0x0000. Implementations of the Decode algorithm are required to throw a URIError when encountering such invalid sequences.

19.2.6.7 ParseHexOctet ( string, position )

The abstract operation ParseHexOctet takes arguments string (a String) and position (a non-negative integer) and returns either a non-negative integer or a non-empty List of SyntaxError objects. It parses a sequence of two hexadecimal characters at the specified position in string into an unsigned 8-bit integer. It performs the following steps when called:

  1. Let len be the length of string.
  2. Assert: position + 2 ≤ len.
  3. Let hexDigits be the substring of string from position to position + 2.
  4. Let parseResult be ParseText(StringToCodePoints(hexDigits), HexDigits[~Sep]).
  5. If parseResult is not a Parse Node, return parseResult.
  6. Let n be the MV of parseResult.
  7. Assert: n is in the inclusive interval from 0 to 255.
  8. Return n.