What is the advantage of an extra return?

Question

Taken from the JavaScript Ninja, I see:

function bind(context, name) {
    return function() {
        return context[name].apply(context, arguments);
    };
}

What is the difference between the above code and?

function bind(context, name) {
    return context[name].apply(context, arguments);
}

I am confused why the extra return is needed?

Thanks

Answer 1

The first returns a function.

The second returns the result of calling context[name]

It allows you to pass a function somewhere (so it can be called later ) while maintaining the context (so the value of this will be what is needed).

Answer 2

Aside from the fact that they are completely different? One returns a closure containing a function call, the other calls the function and returns its return value.