What is the difference between these 2 JavaScript declarations?

Question

For one of them the \"()\" is inside, for the other one it is outside. Here they are:

var a = (function() {
    return {
        bla: function(         


        

Answer 1

There is no practical difference, it's just a subtle difference in how you make the Javascript engine think of the function as a value.

Using ( function(){} () ); you are causing the function to be a value because a statement can't start with a parenthesis. Using ( function(){} ) (); you are using the parentheses to first evaluate the function as a value, then call it.