Functions
Functions are the bread and butter of JavaScript programming. The concept of wrapping a piece of program in a value has many uses. It gives us a way to structure larger programs, to reduce repetition, to associate names with subprograms, and to isolate these subprograms from each other. The most obvious application of functions is defining new vocabulary. Creating new words in prose is usually bad style. But in programming, it is indispensable. Typical adult English speakers have some 20,000 words in their vocabulary. Few programming languages come with 20,000 commands built in. And the vocabulary that is available tends to be more precisely defined, and thus less flexible, than in human language. Therefore, we usually have to introduce new concepts to avoid repeating ourselves too much.
