eolas/Programming_Languages/NodeJS/Architecture/Global_object.md

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2022-04-23 13:26:53 +01:00
---
tags:
- Programming_Languages
- backend
- node-js
---
2022-07-16 10:30:04 +01:00
# Global object
2022-04-23 13:26:53 +01:00
> In Node every function and variable should be scoped to a module. We should not define functions and variables within the global scope.
* In Node the equivalent to the browser's `Window` object is `global`. The properties and methods that belong to this method are available anywhere in a program.
* Just as we can technically write `Window.console.log()`, we can write `global.console.log()` however in both cases it is more sane to use the shorthand.
* However if we declare a variable in this scope in browser-based JavaScript, this variable becomes accessible via the `Window` object and thus is accessible in global scope. The same is not true for Node. If you declare a variable at this level it will return undefined.
* This is because of Node's modular nature. If you were to define a function `foo` in a module and then also define it in the global scope, when you call `foo`, the Node interpreter would not know which function to call. Hence it chooses not to recognise the global `foo`, returning undefined.