Javascript arguments.callee what is it for

Question

I haven\'t found any complete cross-browser doc of this variable.

What is arguments.callee for? how does it work?

Which arguments does it have?

Answer 1

arguments.callee is a round about way of knowing the current executing function by asking 'Who is calling this specific argument?' . . . .

 function factorial(a){
    if(a>0)
      return a*arguments.callee(a-1);
 }

Here if you call factorial(5), it will check for condition greater than 0, and if it is true, will execute the same logic for the next lesser number . . . In some cases you don't know the name of the function to be called . . . .so you can use this property

here is a good reference

arguments.callee from MDN

UPDATE: arguments.callee() is deprecated in ES5