>Given the context of the OP I'd say Michel intended to say 'Statements'
>If he'd *really* wanted more lines (in your definition) he could just have banged in a few CR/LFs ?
>
>IAC, yours was the most elegant and readable solution....

I learned a lot from reading JS framework source code, especially Prototype.js back in 2005.
Was a harsh experience with a VFP background, though achievable.

You can find similar constructs nearly everywhere in JavaScript framework source code; typically for parameters default value:

parm = parm || default;

FWIW, a couple of things I took a long time to understand with JavaScript:
- automatic coercion
- closures
- functions are objects
- global variables are properties of the Global object
- object litterals ({pop1: value1, prop2: value2, method1: function(){}})
- prototype

Much more to say about linking JavaScript and HTML DOM ... (presentation to OFUG scheduled in July)