Return function not being found in global scope

Question

var setup = function(){
    console.log("xyz");
    return function goBack(){
        console.log("It's actually abc");
    }
}

Now, on calling setup() in the global scope, "xyz" is being shown in the console, but the returning function(goBack) is not being appended in the global scope. Shouldn't I be able to access goBack from the global scope once I execute setup() ?

Answer 1

setup is returning a function.

To access it, first call var result = setup() . Now you have goBack stored in the result variable.

You can now use result() to call goBack from outside the scope of setup .

Answer 2

no, you're returning it from setup - the name goBack is irrelevant. You would need to call it on the return value from setup :

var foo = setup();
foo();// calls the function youve named `goBack`
// goBack() does not exist here.

Answer 3

You can access this function goBack like this

var setup = function(){
console.log("xyz");
return function goBack(){
    console.log("It's actually abc");
}(); // IIFE here
}

setup(); // returns xyz , its actually abc

As you see here , I have made the goBack into an IIFE and called setup() in the global scope.

All you needed to do was invoke the function that you were returning.