When do I get this error?

The "Expected an identifier and instead saw '{a}' (a reserved word)" error is thrown when JSLint or JSHint encounters a reference to what should be an identifier but is actually a keyword that is reserved by the language. In the following example we attempt to declare a variable with the identifier default which is a reserved word:

var default = 10;

JSLint prior to September 2013 and JSHint prior to version 2.0.0 would also raise this error when it encountered an object property identifier that is a reserved word. This is valid in the ECMAScript 5 specification, but was not valid previously. In this example we attempt to declare an object property with the identifier default:

var x = {
    default: "a default value"
};

Why do I get this error?

This error is raised to highlight a fatal JavaScript syntax error. Your code will not run if you do not fix this error. Reserved words are special identifiers that are set aside by the ECMAScript specification for special use. The specification defines three sets of reserved words. The first set is "keywords", which are all used by the current version of the language. Here's the full list (ES5 §7.6.1.1):

• break
• case
• catch
• continue
• debugger
• default
• delete
• do
• else
• finally
• for
• function
• if
• in
• instanceof
• new
• return
• switch
• this
• throw
• try
• typeof
• var
• void
• while
• with

The second set is "future reserved words", which are not currently used by the language but are expected to be used in the future. They are reserved now so that future code is backwards compatible. Here's the full list (ES5 §7.6.1.2):

• class
• const
• enum
• export
• extends
• import
• super

The third set is made up of identifiers that are also considered future reserved words, when they occur within strict mode code. JSLint will treat them in the same way as all of the previously listed reserved words, regardless of whether the code is in strict mode or not. Here's the list:

• implements
• interface
• let
• package
• private
• protected
• public
• static
• yield

You may not use any of the words listed above as an identifer. The only way to fix this issue is to change the name of your variable to something more sensible.

For the second example above, this error is raised to highlight a potential JavaScript syntax error. Your code will not run in browsers that do not support this feature of ECMAScript 5 (notably Internet Explorer 8 and below). If you do not care about these older browsers, you can tell JSLint to ignore this syntax by using the es5 directive (or updating to a more recent version of JSLint):

/*jshint es5: true */
var x = {
    default: "a default value"
};

However, if you do need your code to run in older browsers, you will need to change your syntax slightly and quote the identifier so it's treated as a string rather than a reserved word:

var x = {
    "default": "a default value"
};

In JSHint 1.0.0 and above you have the ability to ignore any warning with a special option syntax. The identifier of this warning is W024. This means you can tell JSHint to not issue this warning with the /*jshint -W024 */ directive.