Defining variables outside of loops

Hi Amy!

This has to do with Javascript Scope. Basically, a variable defined outside of a function is in the global scope, meaning it can be accessed anywhere in your code. This means that we can declare the variable outside of the function, but still access it anywhere in that file. Ex:

let message = "Hello there!";

function myMessage() {
    message = "Goodbye"; 
}

myMessage();
console.log(message);

Our message is changed from hello to goodbye.

You can and should declare a variable in a function if it's not needed anywhere else. However, if it's declared inside of a function it will not be able to be accessed outside of that function. This also means that we could re-use variable names without anything getting confused. Ex:

function addNumbers() {
    const high = 6;
    const low = 4;
    let total = high + low;
    console.log(total);
    // console would log 10
}
addNumbers();

function subtractNumbers() {
  const high = 6;
  const low = 4;
  let total = high - low;
  console.log(total);
  // console would log 2
}
subtractNumbers();

And these two functions can exist in the same code without issue. Hope this helps!