not exactly. closures close over scope. functions alone simply create a new scope. these concepts are not synonymous. if your function doesn't return another f

not exactly. closures close over scope. functions alone simply create a new scope. these concepts are not synonymous. if your function doesn't return another function, the references from that function are deallocated once the function has executed. when your function returns a function (a "closure"), the inner function closes over the variables of the outer function, maintaining references to it's context as long as you maintain a reference to the closure.