setTimeout() can be used to run a function after a certain time delay.
It sets a timer and executes a function once that timer is complete.
A basic setTimeout() method takes two parameters:
- The function that needs to be run
- The time delay in milliseconds
The example given below
prints Hello, World! onto
the console after a delay of 2 seconds.
In the example given above,
we pass 2000 for the time delay argument.
This is because 2 seconds is equal to 2000 milliseconds.
The first argument passed to setTimeout is a function.
We can only pass the name of the function as argument.
If that function also requires arguments to be passed,
you can pass them by adding them after the first two arguments of the setTimeout() method call,
as shown below:
In the example given above,
the setTimeout has the following arguments:
-
displayGreeting is the function to be executed after the time delay.
-
2000 is the amount of time delay.
-
"Oliver" and "Smith" are arguments to be passed to the displayGreeting function.
So after the time delay, displayGreeting("Oliver", "Smith") will be called.
Another way to pass arguments to the function
is shown in the example below.
This method is preferred because
it is cleaner and more readable.
It is also preferred to use named parameters
when there are multiple parameters.