Because the engine allocates memory for all declarations during the memory allocation phase of execution context creation, before any code runs. This is a side effect, not a feature. It allows forward references and faster execution.

No. Hoisting is a mental model. The engine does not rearrange source code. It scans once for declarations, reserves memory, and then runs the code line-by-line.

So that functions can be called from anywhere in the scope, regardless of order. If the engine waited to store a function until its declaration line, calls earlier in the file would fail.