ok to include css and js files outside <html>?

Question

i wonder if i could embed js and css files above the html document scope:

<script type="text/javascript" src="../../media/js/jquery.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="../../media/js/jquery-ui.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="../../media/css/cupertino/jquery-ui.css" />

<html>
   <head>
   </head>
   <body>
   <body>
</html>

this is because i want to put them in same php file where i include all files (php, js and css). i have tried this and it seems to work. the output of the html file will be shown just like the above code, with the include rows above the html tag.

are there any hidden cons in this?

Could you elaborate on the reason you need to do this? How putting them in the same php file forces you to put them at the top? — Majid Fouladpour
– Majid Fouladpour, Commented Feb 1, 2010 at 1:25
Yeah, there's absolutely no reason why you couldn't do your includes after outputting <html><head>. — bobince
– bobince, Commented Feb 1, 2010 at 15:50

Sampson · Accepted Answer · 2010-02-01 01:17:41Z

10

Even if it works, you shouldn't do it. This type of stuff is sloppy, and as such isn't guaranteed to work tomorrow, or in future browsers. If you don't feel the agony of this method now, you will eventually. There's no reason that you should be doing this anyway.

answered Feb 1, 2010 at 1:17

Sampson

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2 Comments

pixeltocode Over a year ago

true.but then again, many frameworks use this technique and keep them in a separate php file.

Sampson Over a year ago

@pixeltocode: You can do that and still load them up in the proper place.

Nick Craver · Accepted Answer · 2010-02-01 01:14:58Z

6

This isn't valid html. The best place to put the javascript would be before the body close (unless there's in-line scripts that need those scripts to be loaded). This prevents blocking as the page loads.

answered Feb 1, 2010 at 1:14

Nick Craver

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1 Comment

bdl Over a year ago

It's not valid HTML anyway, there's no DTD.

Alan Haggai Alavi · Accepted Answer · 2010-02-01 01:14:13Z

5

Will not be valid (X)HTML.

answered Feb 1, 2010 at 1:14

Alan Haggai Alavi

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3 Comments

Alan Haggai Alavi Over a year ago

Working, and validating are different. Google's pages work in all browsers, however, they do not validate successfully.

JAL Over a year ago

Browsers are made to do the best they can to cope with broken HTML, so Firefox is doing what it can. It probably puts in an implicit <html> at the start and discards the next one.

John Conde Over a year ago

I've seen title tags at the bottom of a page. Browsers are extremely forgiving. Maybe too forgiving.

Matchu · Accepted Answer · 2010-02-01 01:17:13Z

2

This will work in most all browsers, but that's not to say it isn't wrong. It is wrong.

It's not valid HTML, and will confuse just about everyone who comes across your code, and though I don't know what browsers could possibly fail to overcome the inherent wrongness about this style, I make no promises that it will work. In a sense, it should, but in another, it most definitely should not.

answered Feb 1, 2010 at 1:17

Matchu

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Comments

pbarney · Accepted Answer · 2010-02-04 07:13:10Z

1

Perhaps output buffering will work in this situation? Buffer the output from your "includes" file, then grab the contents of the buffer to output later, after the <html> declaration. Something roughly like this:

In your includes.php file:

<?php 
ob_start();
// here is where you output your css and js declarations
$includes = ob_get_clean();
?>

And here is your main page:

<html>
 <head>
  <title>Hello</title>
  <?php echo $includes ?>
 </head>
 <body>
 ...

edited Feb 4, 2010 at 7:13

answered Feb 4, 2010 at 7:05

pbarney

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Comments

mbrinson · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-18 16:02:26Z

0

I know this is very old now, but I want to add that Google is recommending to do this in certain cases.

Take a look at this: https://developers.google.com/speed/docs/insights/OptimizeCSSDelivery#example

Any thoughts as to why Google is advocating improper HTML coding?

answered Oct 18, 2013 at 16:02

mbrinson

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