Functions are one of the building blocks of JavaScript. If you have spent any time at all programming in JavaScript, you have probably built a ton of them. It is a way we can modularize our code making it easier to maintain. This sometimes raises a problem. What if we need to run more than one function?
Well, we have several options. We can call one function from inside another. But allow me to digress and talk about how to call a function. You call a function by simply typing in the name of the function followed by parentheses.
[code lang=”js”]
// Create a function
function funcOne(){
alert(‘I am the first function’);
}
// Call the function
funcOne();
[/code]
So we can call from within another function…
[code lang=”js”]
// Create a function
function funcOne(){
alert(‘I am the first function’);
}
// Create a second function
function funcTwo(){
alert(‘I am the second function’);
// Call the function
funcOne();
}
[/code]
Another way to do this is to call multiple functions from an event. Now, there is a way to utilize what is called an event listener to do this and that is typically what I use, but that would entail an entire other post. So let’s just see how we would do this from a simple event call…
[code lang=”js”]
<!– Call two functions from event –>
… onLoad="funcOne(); funcTwo();"
[/code]
Do not forget to put in the delimiter (;). This separates the calls logically in the code and avoids errors.
Now, this is not the ideal way to make a call as it intermingles function with content. This is where an event listener comes in. I plan on writing about that at a later date. Mostly, I want you to understand that you can still modularize your code for maintenance and make multiple calls for desired functionality.
Happy Coding!
Clay Hess