Ending "/"

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January 2nd, 2013, 06:00 PM

Nick Wyden

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Ending "/"

What is the difference between

<script src="example.js"></script>

and

<script src="example.js"/>

what is the "/" for in the second example?

January 2nd, 2013, 06:24 PM

portcitysoftwar

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Because proper syntax says all HTML tags must be closed.
an improper tag would be

Code:

<script type="text/javascript" src="somejs.js">

Where proper would be

Code:

<script type="text/javascript" src="somejs.js" />

Code:

<script type="text/javascript" src="somejs.js"></script>

Code:

<script type="text/javascript">
SOME JS CODE
</script>

January 2nd, 2013, 06:33 PM

requinix

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HTML or XHTML?

HTML doesn't support self-closing tags like that. Either the tag closes itself by definition and the slash means nothing or the tag contains content and the slash means nothing.
So in fact

Code:

<script src="example.js"/>

isn't viable.

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January 2nd, 2013, 09:38 PM

Nick Wyden

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thanks

January 2nd, 2013, 11:05 PM

Kravvitz

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A self-closing script tag is known to cause a bug in IE where content after the element is hidden.

If you choose to use XHTML syntax, you should follow the HTML compatibility guidelines.

The third guideline is this:

Quote:

Given an empty instance of an element whose content model is not EMPTY (for example, an empty title or paragraph) do not use the minimized form (e.g. use <p> </p> and not <p />).

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