GeneratorFunction

The GeneratorFunction constructor creates a new generator function object. In JavaScript, every generator function is actually a GeneratorFunction object.

Note that GeneratorFunction is not a global object. It could be obtained by evaluating the following code. 

Object.getPrototypeOf(function*(){}).constructor

Syntax

new Function(arg1, functionBody)
new Function(arg1, arg2, functionBody)
new Function(arg1, ... , argN, functionBody)

Parameters

arg1, arg2, ... argN

Names to be used by the function as formal argument names. Each must be a string that corresponds to a valid JavaScript parameter (any of plain identifier, rest parameter, or destructured parameter, optionally with a default), or a list of such strings separated with commas.

As the parameters are parsed in the same way as function declarations, whitespace and comments are accepted. For example: "x", "theValue = 42", "[a, b] /* numbers */" — or "x, theValue = 42, [a, b] /* numbers */". ("x, theValue = 42", "[a, b]" is also correct, though very confusing to read.)

functionBody

A string containing the JavaScript statements comprising the function definition.

Description

generator function objects created with the GeneratorFunction constructor are parsed when the function is created. This is less efficient than declaring a generator function with a function* expression and calling it within your code, because such functions are parsed with the rest of the code.

All arguments passed to the function are treated as the names of the identifiers of the parameters in the function to be created, in the order in which they are passed.

Note: generator function created with the GeneratorFunction constructor do not create closures to their creation contexts; they are always created in the global scope.

When running them, they will only be able to access their own local variables and global ones, not the ones from the scope in which the GeneratorFunction constructor was called.

This is different from using eval with code for a generator function expression.

Invoking the GeneratorFunction constructor as a function (without using the new operator) has the same effect as invoking it as a constructor.

Examples

Creating a generator function from a GeneratorFunction() constructor

var GeneratorFunction = Object.getPrototypeOf(function*(){}).constructor
var g = new GeneratorFunction('a', 'yield a * 2');
var iterator = g(10);
console.log(iterator.next().value); // 20

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript Language Specification
# sec-generatorfunction-objects

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also