Hoisting of Variables Declared with let or const

While variables declared with var behave as expected during hoisting, those declared with let or const exhibit different behavior.

Hoisting of All Declarations

All JavaScript declarations (var, let, const, function, function*, class) undergo hoisting, meaning they're recognizable anywhere within their respective scope.

Initialization Difference

However, the distinction between var/function/function* and let/const/class declarations lies in their initialization. Var declarations are initialized with undefined from the moment of binding creation at the scope's start. In contrast, let/const/class declarations remain uninitialized until their statement is evaluated.

Temporal Dead Zone for Uninitialized Variables

This uninitialized state creates a "temporal dead zone" where accessing the variable before initialization results in a ReferenceError.

Example:

x = y = "global";
(function() {
    x; // undefined
    y; // Reference error: y is not defined

    var x = "local";
    let y = "local";
}());

let vs. const in Hoisting

Let and const operate identically in terms of hoisting. The difference between them is that a constant must always be assigned a value upon declaration.

Conclusion

Variables declared with let or const are hoisted, but they remain uninitialized within a temporal dead zone until their declaration statement is processed. Accessing them prematurely will result in a ReferenceError.