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copied!<p>No.</p> <p>From <a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/files/ECMA-ST/Ecma-262.pdf" rel="nofollow">Standard ECMA-262 ECMAScript Language Specification </a> (12.9):</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>Syntax</strong></p> <p><em>ReturnStatement</em>:<br> <code>return ;</code><br> <code>return</code> [no <em>LineTerminator</em> here] <em>Expression</em> <code>;</code></p> <p>[...] A <code>return</code> statement causes a function to cease execution and return a value to the caller. If <code>Expression</code> is omitted, the return value is <code>undefined</code>. Otherwise, the return value is the value of <em>Expression</em>.</p> </blockquote> <p>The opposite is true, however: a <code>return</code> statement can prevent memory from being freed.</p> <p>From <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference/Functions_and_function_scope#Preservation_of_variables" rel="nofollow">Functions and function scope - MDN # Preservation of variables</a>:</p> <pre><code>function outside(x) { function inside(y) { return x + y; } return inside; } fn_inside = outside(3); result = fn_inside(5); // returns 8 result1 = outside(3)(5); // returns 8 </code></pre> <blockquote> <p>Notice how <code>x</code> is preserved when <code>inside</code> is returned. A closure must preserve the arguments and variables in all scopes it references. Since each call provides potentially different arguments, a new closure is created for each call to <code>outside</code>. The memory can be freed only when the returned <code>inside</code> is no longer accessible.</p> </blockquote>

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