No visible cause for “Unexpected token ILLEGAL”

Question

I\'m getting this JavaScript error on my console:

Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token ILLEGAL

This is my code:

Answer 1

This also could be happening if you're copying code from another document (like a PDF) into your console and trying to run it.

I was trying to run some example code out of a Javascript book I'm reading and was surprised it didn't run in the console.

Apparently, copying from the PDF introduces some unexpected, illegal, and invisible characters into the code.