javascript - Why is my variable unaltered after I modify it inside of a function?

given following examples, why outerscopevar undefined in cases?

var outerscopevar;  var img = document.createelement('img'); img.onload = function() {     outerscopevar = this.width; }; img.src = 'lolcat.png'; alert(outerscopevar);

var outerscopevar; settimeout(function() {     outerscopevar = 'hello asynchronous world!'; }, 0); alert(outerscopevar);

// example using jquery var outerscopevar; $.post('loldog', function(response) {     outerscopevar = response; }); alert(outerscopevar);

// node.js example var outerscopevar; fs.readfile('./catdog.html', function(err, data) {     outerscopevar = data; }); console.log(outerscopevar);

// promises var outerscopevar; mypromise.then(function (response) {     outerscopevar = response; }); console.log(outerscopevar);

// geolocation api var outerscopevar; navigator.geolocation.getcurrentposition(function (pos) {     outerscopevar = pos; }); console.log(outerscopevar);

why output undefined in of these examples? don't want workarounds, want know why happening.

note: canonical question javascript asynchronicity. feel free improve question , add more simplified examples community can identify with.

one word answer: asynchronicity.

forewords

this topic has been iterated @ least couple of thousands times, here, in stack overflow. hence, first off i'd point out extremely useful resources:

@felix kling's "how return response ajax call". see excellent answer explaining synchronous , asynchronous flows, "restructure code" section.
@benjamin gruenbaum has put lot of effort explaining asynchronicity in same thread.
@matt esch's answer "get data fs.readfile" explains asynchronicity extremely in simple manner.

the answer question @ hand

let's trace common behavior first. in examples, outerscopevar modified inside of function. function not executed immediately, being assigned or passed argument. call callback.

now question is, when callback called?

it depends on case. let's try trace common behavior again:

img.onload may called sometime in future, when (and if) image has loaded.
settimeout may called sometime in future, after delay has expired , timeout hasn't been cancelled cleartimeout. note: when using 0 delay, browsers have minimum timeout delay cap (specified 4ms in html5 spec).
jquery $.post's callback may called sometime in future, when (and if) ajax request has been completed successfully.
node.js's fs.readfile may called sometime in future, when file has been read or thrown error.

in cases, have callback may run sometime in future. "sometime in future" refer asynchronous flow.

asynchronous execution pushed out of synchronous flow. is, asynchronous code never execute while synchronous code stack executing. meaning of javascript being single-threaded.

more specifically, when js engine idle -- not executing stack of (a)synchronous code -- poll events may have triggered asynchronous callbacks (e.g. expired timeout, received network response) , execute them 1 after another. regarded event loop.

that is, asynchronous code highlighted in hand-drawn red shapes may execute after remaining synchronous code in respective code blocks have executed:

async code highlighted

in short, callback functions created synchronously, executed asynchronously. can't rely on execution of asynchronous function until know has executed, , how that?

it simple, really. logic depends on asynchronous function execution should started/called inside asynchronous function. example, moving alerts , console.logs inside callback function output expected result, because result available @ point.

implementing own callback logic

often need more things result asynchronous function, or different things result depending asynchronous function has been called. let's tackle bit more complex example:

var outerscopevar; hellocatasync(); alert(outerscopevar);  function hellocatasync() {     settimeout(function() {         outerscopevar = 'nya';     }, math.random() * 2000); }

note: i'm using settimeout random delay generic asynchronous function, same example applies ajax, readfile, onload , other asynchronous flow.

this example suffers same issue other examples, not waiting until asynchronous function executes.

let's tackle implementing callback system of our own. first off, rid of ugly outerscopevar useless in case. add parameter accepts function argument, our callback. when asynchronous operation finishes, call callback passing result. implementation (please read comments in order):

// 1. call hellocatasync passing callback function, //    called receiving result async operation hellocatasync(function(result) {     // 5. received result async function,     //    whatever want it:     alert(result); });  // 2. "callback" parameter reference function //    passed argument hellocatasync call function hellocatasync(callback) {     // 3. start async operation:     settimeout(function() {         // 4. finished async operation,         //    call callback passing result argument         callback('nya');     }, math.random() * 2000); }

most in real use cases, dom api , libraries provide callback functionality (the hellocatasync implementation in demonstrative example). need pass callback function , understand execute out of synchronous flow, , restructure code accommodate that.

you notice due asynchronous nature, impossible return value asynchronous flow synchronous flow callback defined, asynchronous callbacks executed long after synchronous code has finished executing.

instead of returning value asynchronous callback, have make use of callback pattern, or... promises.

promises

although there ways keep callback hell @ bay vanilla js, promises growing in popularity , being standardized in es6 (see promise - mdn).

promises (a.k.a. futures) provide more linear, , pleasant, reading of asynchronous code, explaining entire functionality out of scope of question. instead, i'll leave these excellent resources interested:

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