I've noticed that some languages like C, C++, Java, Perl, and .NET Visual Basic have "block" scoping which means that a variable will only be defined within the specific code block it was declared in.

For example (C++):

if (true) {
    int x = 1;
}
std::cout << x << std::endl;

This code will fail to compile since x is only visible within the block scope created by the if statement.

error: 'x' was not declared in this scope

But languages like VBA, Python, and Javascript have "function based" scoping which means that the only time a new scope is created is when a new function is defined.

For example (VBA):

If True Then
    Dim x As Integer
    x = 1
End If
MsgBox(x)

This code runs successfully and the value of x is visible outside of the if statement.

This type of scoping seems rather confusing to me because visually it looks like x should "belong" to the if statement.

So this raises the question: Are there any real advantages/disadvantages other than just look and feel... like performance advantages/compile speed advantages/etc... for a language to be "block" scoped vs. "function" scoped?

I've noticed that some languages like C, C++, Java, Perl, and .NET Visual Basic have "block" scoping which means that a variable will only be defined within the specific code block it was declared in.

For example (C++):

if (true) {
    int x = 1;
}
std::cout << x << std::endl;

This code will fail to compile since x is only visible within the block scope created by the if statement.

error: 'x' was not declared in this scope

But languages like VBA, Python, and Javascript have "function based" scoping which means that the only time a new scope is created is when a new function is defined.

For example (VBA):

If True Then
    Dim x As Integer
    x = 1
End If
MsgBox(x)

This code runs successfully and the value of x is visible outside of the if statement.

This type of scoping seems rather confusing to me because visually it looks like x should "belong" to the if statement.

So this raises the question: Are there any advantages other than just look and feel... like performance advantages/compile speed advantages/etc... for a language to be "function" scoped rather than "block" scoped?