Does removing a script element remove its functions from memory?

Question

var scripts  = document.getElementsByTagName("script");
for (var i=scripts.length; i--; ){
   (scripts[i]).parentNode.removeChild(scripts[i]);
}

Someone asked me this question and my first thought was: no. However, when you remove the style elements, the page automatically updates, removing the styling. This could be because of how the browser hooks css - I think I recall that CSS updates on every event (mouse movement, clicks, type, etc).

I just wanted to confirm, that getting rid of the script tag, won't get rid of the function that was already created, since I'm not at a computer where I can test.

This also has got me thinking of good practice to help secure code against firebug[-like] users

Answer 1

Short answer, No.

Any script which got evaluated once by the engine will stay in memory for the rest of your session. Even by removing the entire script node where the code was contained doesn't change that fact.