JavaScript applications consist of statements with an appropriate syntax. A single statement may span multiple lines. Multiple statements may occur on a single line if each statement is separated by a semicolon. This isn't a keyword, but a group of keywords.
Statements and declarations by category
For an alphabetical listing see the sidebar on the left.
Control flow
- Block
- A block statement is used to group zero or more statements. The block is delimited by a pair of curly brackets.
break- Terminates the current loop, switch, or label statement and transfers program control to the statement following the terminated statement.
continue- Terminates execution of the statements in the current iteration of the current or labeled loop, and continues execution of the loop with the next iteration.
- Empty
- An empty statement is used to provide no statement, although the JavaScript syntax would expect one.
if...else- Executes a statement if a specified condition is true. If the condition is false, another statement can be executed.
switch- Evaluates an expression, matching the expression's value to a case clause, and executes statements associated with that case.
throw- Throws a user-defined exception.
try...catch- Marks a block of statements to try, and specifies a response, should an exception be thrown.
Declarations
Functions and classes
Iterations
do...while- Creates a loop that executes a specified statement until the test condition evaluates to false. The condition is evaluated after executing the statement, resulting in the specified statement executing at least once.
for- Creates a loop that consists of three optional expressions, enclosed in parentheses and separated by semicolons, followed by a statement executed in the loop.
for each...in- Iterates a specified variable over all values of object's properties. For each distinct property, a specified statement is executed. This is deprecated, and you should use
for...ofinstead. for...in- Iterates over the enumerable properties of an object, in arbitrary order. For each distinct property, statements can be executed.
for...of- Iterates over iterable objects (including arrays, array-like objects, iterators and generators), invoking a custom iteration hook with statements to be executed for the value of each distinct property.
for await...of- Iterates over async iterable objects, array-like objects, iterators and generators, invoking a custom iteration hook with statements to be executed for the value of each distinct property.
while- Creates a loop that executes a specified statement as long as the test condition evaluates to true. The condition is evaluated before executing the statement.
Others
debugger- Invokes any available debugging functionality. If no debugging functionality is available, this statement has no effect.
export- Used to export functions to make them available for imports in external modules, and other scripts.
import- Used to import functions exported from an external module, another script.
- label
- Provides a statement with an identifier that you can refer to using a
breakorcontinuestatement. with- Extends the scope chain for a statement.
Specifications
| Specification |
|---|
| ECMAScript (ECMA-262) The definition of 'ECMAScript Language: Statements and Declarations' in that specification. |
Browser compatibility
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