Discuss the benefits and limitations of using JavaScript frameworks for building web applications.

In JavaScript, higher-order functions are a powerful concept that allows functions to take other functions as arguments or return functions as values. This means that functions can be treated as first-class citizens in JavaScript, enabling the implementation of more flexible and modular code.

The concept of higher-order functions is derived from functional programming paradigms and provides a way to abstract and encapsulate common patterns and behaviors in JavaScript. By passing functions as arguments or returning functions, higher-order functions enable code reusability, composition, and the implementation of advanced techniques such as function currying and function chaining.

Here's an example to illustrate the usage of higher-order functions:

```
javascript`// Example 1: Higher-Order Function as an Argument

// A higher-order function that takes a callback function as an argument
function repeat(n, action) {
for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {
action(i);
}
}

// A callback function passed to the higher-order function
function logNumber(num) {
console.log(num);
}

// Calling the higher-order function with the callback function
repeat(5, logNumber);
// Output:
// 0
// 1
// 2
// 3
// 4

// Example 2: Higher-Order Function as a Return Value

// A higher-order function that returns a new function
function multiplyBy(num) {
return function (x) {
return x * num;
};
}

// Creating a new function using the higher-order function
const multiplyByTwo = multiplyBy(2);

// Calling the returned function
console.log(multiplyByTwo(5)); // Output: 10`
```
In the first example, the `repeat` function is a higher-order function that takes a callback function `action` as an argument. The `repeat` function iterates `n` times and calls the `action` function with the current index as an argument. In this case, we pass the `logNumber` function as the callback, which logs the value to the console.

In the second example, the `multiplyBy` function is a higher-order function that returns a new function. The returned function takes a parameter `x` and multiplies it by the value captured by the `num` parameter. In this case, we call `multiplyBy(2)` to obtain a new function `multiplyByTwo`, which multiplies any given number by 2. Thus, calling `multiplyByTwo(5)` returns `10`.

Higher-order functions are widely used in JavaScript libraries and frameworks, such as Array methods (`map`, `filter`, `reduce`), event handling (`addEventListener`), and asynchronous operations (`setTimeout`, `fetch`). They provide a powerful abstraction mechanism that promotes code modularity, reusability, and expressive programming patterns.