a variable and function with same name returns an error inside a block

Question

If we declare a variable and a function with same name, it is accepting re-declaration. But when we do the same thing inside a block, it shows re-declaration error.
Code:

var x;
function x() {}; // no error.

But in this case i'm getting Error.

{
  var inside; // re-declaration error.
  function inside() {};
}

expected result should be no error.

Answer 1

This is an EcmaScript 6 change. From ES6 onwards it's no longer allowed to have duplicate bindings within a block scope.

The ES5 spec does not have such a restriction but in the ES6 spec the semantics have been changed:

13.2.1 Static Semantics: Early Errors

Block : { StatementList }

• It is a Syntax Error if the LexicallyDeclaredNames of StatementList contains any duplicate entries.

• It is a Syntax Error if any element of the LexicallyDeclaredNames of StatementList also occurs in the VarDeclaredNames of StatementList.

The first part is relevant - LexicallyDeclaredNames contains all declarations found within the code inside the block.

Presumably, this is part of a change in semantics function declarations in ES6, since now they can be block scoped:

{ //block 1
  function foo() { // declared in block 1
    return 1;
  }
  console.log("block 1: foo() === 1", foo() === 1);
  
  { // block 2
    function foo() { // declared in block 2
      return 2;
    }
    console.log("block 2: foo() === 2", foo() === 2);
  }
  
  console.log("block 1: foo() === 1", foo() === 1);
}

This is a syntactic sugar over this equivalent ES5 code:

(function() { //block 1
  var foo = function() {
    return 1;
  }
  console.log("block 1: foo() === 1", foo() === 1);
  (function() { //block 2
    var foo = function() {
      return 2;
    }
    console.log("block 2: foo() === 2", foo() === 2);
  })();
  console.log("block 1: foo() === 1", foo() === 1);
})();

However, this feature cannot work with duplicate names.

The same behaviour persists for any block, including other types of block statements. Here is an example:

{ //block
  function foo() { return 1; }
  console.log("block: foo() === 1", foo() === 1);
  
  if (true) { // if block
    function foo() { return 2; }
    console.log("if block: foo() === 2", foo() === 2);
  }
  
  for (var i = 0; i < 1; i++) { // for block
    function foo() { return 3; }
    console.log("for block: foo() === 3", foo() === 3);
  }
  
  switch ("hello world") { // case block
    default:
      function foo() { return 4; }
      console.log("case block: foo() === 4", foo() === 4);
  }
  
  console.log("block: foo() === 1", foo() === 1);
}

However, it should be noted that duplicate declaration of the same type (var or function) do not lead to an error:

{
  var foo = 1;
  var foo = 2;
  
  console.log("foo ->", foo);
}

{
  function bar() { return "a"; }
  function bar() { return "b"; }
  
  console.log("bar() ->", bar());
}

So, it seems like they aren't treated as different declarations but overwriting the same lexically declared name.

Answer 2

While exploring this further I came across this: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/SyntaxError

The funny thing is that my result is different than theirs for this situation:

    try{
        eval(`{
            var x;
            function x(){};
        }`);
    }catch(e){
        console.log(e instanceof SyntaxError);
        console.log(e.message);                // "Hello"
        console.log(e.name);                   // "SyntaxError"
        console.log(e.fileName);               // "someFile.js"
        console.log(e.lineNumber);             // 10
        console.log(e.columnNumber);           // 0
        console.log(e.stack);                  // "@Scratchpad/2:11:9\n"
    }

Result:

true // instanceof SyntaxError
06:01:10.526 VM3194:22 Identifier 'x' has already been declared // e.message
06:01:10.527 VM3194:23 SyntaxError // e.name
06:01:10.527 VM3194:24 undefined   // e.filename
06:01:10.527 VM3194:25 undefined   // e.lineNumber
06:01:10.527 VM3194:26 undefined   // e.columnNumber
06:01:10.527 VM3194:27 SyntaxError: Identifier 'x' has already been declared at VM3194:16 // e.stack