Closures vs Global Variables

Developers should learn closures to write more modular, maintainable, and efficient code, especially in functional programming or event-driven environments meets developers should use global variables when they need to share data across multiple functions or modules without passing it as parameters, such as for configuration settings, application state, or constants used throughout a program. Here's our take.

Closures

Nice Pick

Developers should learn closures to write more modular, maintainable, and efficient code, especially in functional programming or event-driven environments

Pros

• They are essential for implementing callbacks, event handlers, and module patterns in JavaScript, as well as for creating private variables and stateful functions in languages like Python or Ruby
• Related to: javascript, functional-programming

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Global Variables

Developers should use global variables when they need to share data across multiple functions or modules without passing it as parameters, such as for configuration settings, application state, or constants used throughout a program

Pros

• However, they should be used sparingly due to risks like unintended side-effects, debugging difficulties, and reduced code modularity, making them suitable for small scripts or specific cases where local alternatives are impractical
• Related to: variable-scoping, namespaces

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

Use Closures if: You want they are essential for implementing callbacks, event handlers, and module patterns in javascript, as well as for creating private variables and stateful functions in languages like python or ruby and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.

Use Global Variables if: You prioritize however, they should be used sparingly due to risks like unintended side-effects, debugging difficulties, and reduced code modularity, making them suitable for small scripts or specific cases where local alternatives are impractical over what Closures offers.

The Bottom Line

Closures wins

Developers should learn closures to write more modular, maintainable, and efficient code, especially in functional programming or event-driven environments