The second way is to place JavaScript code in an external file and import it into the document. The second method is preferred because, with large programs, it is hard to maintain everything in an HTML document. JavaScript files have the file extension ".js". An example is:
<script src="myprogram.js"></script>
Although all JavaScript code should be in a .js file because our programs are short, we'll place code directly within a <script>
tag. We'll use external .js files in the next course.
Attributes
This element includes the global attributes.
async
-
For classic scripts, if the
async
attribute is present, then the classic script will be fetched in parallel to parsing and evaluated as soon as it is available.
-
For module scripts, if the
async
attribute is present then the scripts and all their dependencies will be executed in the defer queue, therefore they will get fetched in parallel to parsing and evaluated as soon as they are available.
-
This attribute allows the elimination of parser-blocking JavaScript where the browser would have to load and evaluate scripts before continuing to parse.
defer
has a similar effect in this case.
-
This is a boolean attribute: the presence of a boolean attribute on an element represents the true value, and the absence of the attribute represents the false value.
-
See Browser compatibility for notes on browser support. See also Async scripts for asm.js.
crossorigin
- Normal
script
elements pass minimal information to thewindow.onerror
for scripts which do not pass the standard CORS checks. To allow error logging for sites which use a separate domain for static media, use this attribute. See CORS settings attributes for a more descriptive explanation of its valid arguments.
defer
-
This Boolean attribute is set to indicate to a browser that the script is meant to be executed after the document has been parsed, but before firing
DOMContentLoaded
.
-
Scripts with the
defer
attribute will prevent theDOMContentLoaded
event from firing until the script has loaded and finished evaluating.
-
This attribute must not be used if the
src
attribute is absent (i.e. for inline scripts), in this case it would have no effect.
-
The
defer
attribute has no effect on module scripts ' they defer by default.
-
Scripts with the
defer
attribute will execute in the order in which they appear in the document.
-
This attribute allows the elimination of parser-blocking JavaScript where the browser would have to load and evaluate scripts before continuing to parse.
async
has a similar effect in this case.
-
Warning: This attribute must not be used if the
src
attribute is absent (i.e. for inline scripts), in this case it would have no effect.
-
Scripts with the
defer
attribute will execute in the order in which they appear in the document.
-
This attribute allows the elimination of parser-blocking JavaScript where the browser would have to load and evaluate scripts before continuing to parse.
async
has a similar effect in this case.
-
The
defer
attribute has no effect on module scripts - they defer by default.
integrity
- This attribute contains inline metadata that a user agent can use to verify that a fetched resource has been delivered free of unexpected manipulation. See Subresource Integrity.
nomodule
- This Boolean attribute is set to indicate that the script should not be executed in browsers that support ES2015 modules in effect, this can be used to serve fallback scripts to older browsers that do not support modular JavaScript code.
nonce
- A cryptographic nonce (number used once) to allow scripts in a script-src Content-Security-Policy. The server must generate a unique nonce value each time it transmits a policy. It is critical to provide a nonce that cannot be guessed as bypassing a resource's policy is otherwise trivial.
referrerpolicy
- Indicates which referrer to send when fetching the script, or resources fetched by the script:
-
no-referrer
: TheReferer
header will not be sent.no-referrer-when-downgrade
: TheReferer
header will not be sent to origins without TLS (HTTPS).origin
: The sent referrer will be limited to the origin of the referring page: its scheme, host, and port.origin-when-cross-origin
: The referrer sent to other origins will be limited to the scheme, the host, and the port. Navigations on the same origin will still include the path.same-origin
: A referrer will be sent for same origin, but cross-origin requests will contain no referrer information.strict-origin
: Only send the origin of the document as the referrer when the protocol security level stays the same (HTTPS→HTTPS), but don't send it to a less secure destination (HTTPS→HTTP).strict-origin-when-cross-origin
(default): Send a full URL when performing a same-origin request, only send the origin when the protocol security level stays the same (HTTPS→HTTPS), and send no header to a less secure destination (HTTPS→HTTP).unsafe-url
: The referrer will include the origin and the path (but not the fragment, password, or username). This value is unsafe, because it leaks origins and paths from TLS-protected resources to insecure origins.
-
Note: An empty string value (
""
) is both the default value, and a fallback value ifreferrerpolicy
is not supported. Ifreferrerpolicy
is not explicitly specified on the<script>
element, it will adopt a higher-level referrer policy, i.e. one set on the whole document or domain. If a higher-level policy is not available, the empty string is treated as being equivalent tostrict-origin-when-cross-origin
.
src
This attribute specifies the URI of an external script; this can be used as an alternative to embedding a script directly within a document.
type
This attribute indicates the type of script represented. The value of this attribute will be in one of the following categories:
-
- Omitted or a JavaScript MIME type: This indicates the script is JavaScript. The HTML5 specification urges authors to omit the attribute rather than provide a redundant MIME type. In earlier browsers, this identified the
scripting language of the embedded or imported (via the
src
attribute) code. JavaScript MIME types are listed in the specification. module
: Causes the code to be treated as a JavaScript module. The processing of the script contents is not affected by thecharset
anddefer
attributes. For information on usingmodule
, see our JavaScript modules guide. Unlike classic scripts, module scripts require the use of the CORS protocol for cross-origin fetching.- Any other value: The embedded content is treated as a data block which won't be processed by the browser. Developers must use a valid MIME type that is not a JavaScript MIME type to denote data blocks. The
src
attribute will be ignored.
- Omitted or a JavaScript MIME type: This indicates the script is JavaScript. The HTML5 specification urges authors to omit the attribute rather than provide a redundant MIME type. In earlier browsers, this identified the
scripting language of the embedded or imported (via the