ThetoString() method ofFunction instances returns a string representing the source code of this function.

Try it

function sum(a, b) {  return a + b;}console.log(sum.toString());// Expected output: "function sum(a, b) {//                     return a + b;//                   }"console.log(Math.abs.toString());// Expected output: "function abs() { [native code] }"

Syntax

toString()

Parameters

None.

Return value

A string representing the source code of the function.

Description

TheFunction object overrides thetoString() methodinherited fromObject; it does not inheritObject.prototype.toString. For user-definedFunctionobjects, thetoString method returns a string containing the source textsegment which was used to define the function.

JavaScript calls thetoString method automatically when aFunction is to be represented as a text value, e.g., when a function isconcatenated with a string.

ThetoString() method will throw aTypeError exception("Function.prototype.toString called on incompatible object"), if itsthis value object is not aFunction object.

Function.prototype.toString.call("foo"); // throws TypeError

If thetoString() method is called on built-in function objects, afunction created byFunction.prototype.bind(), orother non-JavaScript functions, thentoString() returns anative function string which looks like

function someName() { [native code] }

For intrinsic object methods and functions,someName is the initial name of the function; otherwise its content may be implementation-defined, but will always be in property name syntax, like[1 + 1],someName, or1.

If thetoString() method is called on a function created by theFunction constructor,toString() returns the source code of a synthesized function declaration named "anonymous" using the provided parameters and function body. For example,Function("a", "b", "return a + b").toString() will return:

function anonymous(a,b) {return a + b}

Since ES2018, the spec requires the return value oftoString() to be the exact same source code as it was declared, including any whitespace and/or comments — or, if the host doesn't have the source code available for some reason, requires returning a native function string. Support for this revised behavior can be found in thecompatibility table.

Examples

Comparing actual source code and toString results

function test(fn) {  console.log(fn.toString());}function f() {}class A {  a() {}}function* g() {}test(f); // "function f() {}"test(A); // "class A { a() {} }"test(g); // "function* g() {}"test((a) => a); // "(a) => a"test({ a() {} }.a); // "a() {}"test({ *a() {} }.a); // "*a() {}"test({ [0]() {} }[0]); // "[0]() {}"test(Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor({ get a() {} }, "a").get); // "get a() {}"test(Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor({ set a(x) {} }, "a").set); // "set a(x) {}"test(Function.prototype.toString); // "function toString() { [native code] }"test(function f() {}.bind(0)); // "function () { [native code] }"test(Function("a", "b")); // function anonymous(a\n) {\nb\n}

Note that after theFunction.prototype.toString() revision, whentoString() is called, implementations are never allowed to synthesize a function's source that is not a native function string. The method always returns the exact source code used to create the function — including thegetter andsetter examples above. TheFunction constructor itself has the capability of synthesizing the source code for the function (and is therefore a form of impliciteval()).

Getting source text of a function

It is possible to get the source text of a function by coercing it to a string — for example, by wrapping it in a template literal:

function foo() {  return "bar";}console.log(`${foo}`);// function foo() {//   return "bar";// }

This source text isexact, including any interspersed comments (which won't be stored by the engine's internal representation otherwise).

function foo /* a comment */() {  return "bar";}console.log(foo.toString());// function foo /* a comment */() {//   return "bar";// }

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• Object.prototype.toString()