JavaScript closure

Definition for closure : A closure is the local variables for a function – kept alive after the function has returned.

A nice example to explain closure.

//
// define a function which preserves data (count)
//
var CreateCounter = function(){
   var count, f;
   count = 0;
   f = function(){
      count = count+1;
      return count;
   }
   return f;
}

// create objects which remembers its own counter
var counter1 = CreateCounter();
var counter2 = CreateCounter();
alert(counter1());  // 1
alert(counter1());  // 2
alert(counter1());  // 3

alert(counter2());  // 1
alert(counter2());  // 2
alert(counter2());  // 3

alert(counter1());  // 4
alert(counter1());  // 5
alert(counter2());  // 4

Nice article about closure found at http://www.jibbering.com/faq/faq_notes/closures.html