A Note on Javascript

In the course of web design, it has become popular to include various javascript code snippets to perform various functions within a site; often they can be used for browser-compatibility checks, basic dynamic content, and to provide the most accurate and accessible webpage to a viewer based on pertinent data provided to the server. These scripts are often called inline from the HTML within a site; in the interest of bandwidth, it is a good idea to avoid this whenever possible.

Taking a javascript program and putting it into an external file, then calling this script in a webpage header instead of writing out the entire script inline, serves to cache the script instead of forcing the browser to reload it every time a page is reloaded, especially if every page on a site calls the same set of scripts.

If embedding is required, be very careful to properly bracket the script.

<script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript">
</script>

is the correct method of declaring an inline javascript snippet. Often, WYSIWYG code editors may mangle this declaration, often omitting type="text/javascript" entirely. This informal style is one of the most significant causes of erratic javascripts, and should be strictly avoided.