How does lexical scope affect closures?

Can you explain how lexical scope impacts closures in JavaScript?

Sure! Lexical scope refers to the visibility of variables in nested functions. Closures capture the lexical scope in which they were created.

Can you give me an example of a closure that demonstrates this?

Absolutely! Here's a simple example:

function outerFunction() {
    let outerVariable = 'I am outside!';
    function innerFunction() {
        console.log(outerVariable);
    }
    return innerFunction;
}

const closureFunction = outerFunction();
closureFunction(); // Outputs: I am outside!

What happens if I try to access outerVariable directly from innerFunction?

You can't access outerVariable directly from outside outerFunction, but the closure allows innerFunction to access it because it was defined within the same scope.