Reflect.apply()

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since September 2016.

The Reflect.apply() static method calls a target function with arguments as specified.

Try it

console.log(Reflect.apply(Math.floor, undefined, [1.75]));
// Expected output: 1

console.log(
  Reflect.apply(String.fromCharCode, undefined, [104, 101, 108, 108, 111]),
);
// Expected output: "hello"

console.log(
  Reflect.apply(RegExp.prototype.exec, /ab/, ["confabulation"]).index,
);
// Expected output: 4

console.log(Reflect.apply("".charAt, "ponies", [3]));
// Expected output: "i"

Syntax

js
Reflect.apply(target, thisArgument, argumentsList)

Parameters

target

The target function to call.

thisArgument

The value of this provided for the call to target.

argumentsList

An array-like object specifying the arguments with which target should be called.

Return value

The result of calling the given target function with the specified this value and arguments.

Exceptions

TypeError

Thrown if target is not a function or argumentsList is not an object.

Description

Reflect.apply() provides the reflective semantic of a function call. That is, Reflect.apply(target, thisArgument, argumentsList) is semantically equivalent to:

js
Math.floor.apply(null, [1.75]);
Reflect.apply(Math.floor, null, [1.75]);

The only differences are:

  • Reflect.apply() takes the function to call as the target parameter instead of the this context.
  • Reflect.apply() throws if argumentsList is omitted instead of defaulting to calling with no parameters.

Reflect.apply() invokes the [[Call]] object internal method of target.

Examples

Using Reflect.apply()

js
Reflect.apply(Math.floor, undefined, [1.75]);
// 1;

Reflect.apply(String.fromCharCode, undefined, [104, 101, 108, 108, 111]);
// "hello"

Reflect.apply(RegExp.prototype.exec, /ab/, ["confabulation"]).index;
// 4

Reflect.apply("".charAt, "ponies", [3]);
// "i"

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript® 2027 Language Specification
# sec-reflect.apply

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile server
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
Bun
Deno
Node.js
apply
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 49 (Release date: 2016-03-02)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 42 (Release date: 2015-11-03)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 36 (Release date: 2016-03-15)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 10 (Release date: 2016-09-20)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 49 (Release date: 2016-03-09)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 42 (Release date: 2015-11-03)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 36 (Release date: 2016-03-31)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 10 (Release date: 2016-09-13)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 5 (Release date: 2016-12-15)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 49 (Release date: 2016-03-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 10 (Release date: 2016-09-13)
footnote Full support
Bun – Full support
Bun 1 (Release date: 2023-09-08)
footnote Full support
Deno – Full support
Deno 1 (Release date: 2020-05-13)
footnote Full support
Node.js – Full support
Node.js 6 (Release date: 2016-04-26)
footnote Full support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support

See also