Why does this JavaScript statement begin with a ;
<p>It's looks extraneous, but it must do something. </p>

<p>ref: <a href="https://github.com/quirkey/sammy/blob/master/examples/hello_world/index.html" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/quirkey/sammy/blob/master/examples/hello_world/index.html</a></p>

<pre><code>&lt;script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"&gt;
    ;(function($) {
         //snip 
      });

      $(function() {
          //snip 
      });
    })(jQuery);
  &lt;/script&gt;
</code></pre>
