Host jquery.js or link to it?

Hi guys,

I wanted to know, would it be faster to link to my own copy of jquery.js or jquery.com's?

Thanks in advance,

-Tony

 

Here is a good post which explains the benefits for using a CDN version of jQuery: http://encosia.com/3-reasons-why-you-should-let-google-host-jquery-for-you/

And check out this page for CDN links: http://docs.jquery.com/Downloading_jQuery

Personally, I don't use the CDN versions, because I generally combine all JavaScript into one file anyway, so CDN's wouldn't have a huge effect.

 

The article in 3 lines. CDN - Content Delivery Network

Decreased latency: jQuery will download faster because it is downloaded from the CLOEST available server.
increased parallelism: Web browsers limit the number of connections that can be made simultaneously to a domain. Using CDN, allows one more connection available for your site to load faster.
Better caching: The probability of the user already having the jQuery file is quite high since thousands of sites already link to Google's CDN.

Recommendation: Use Google's CDN.

 

And, just in case Google is down for a few seconds, I do a fallback to Microsoft, then to my local file.

if (typeof jQuery == "undefined") {
}

Code (markup):

 

Try JQuery because it should download faster because it is close to the available server. If that doesn't pan out as I've mentioend, try the second option.

 

Well, you will take some load off your own server if you load from somewhere else.