Develop Reference

handle unnamed JSONP in xmlHttpRequest Javascript [duplicate]

Can I make a cross-domain JSONP request in JavaScript without using jQuery or other external library? I would like to use JavaScript itself and then parse the data and make it an object so I could use it. Do I have to use an external library? If not, how can I do it?

function foo(data)
{
// do stuff with JSON
}
var script = document.createElement('script');
script.src = '//example.com/path/to/jsonp?callback=foo'
document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(script);
// or document.head.appendChild(script) in modern browsers

Lightweight example (with support for onSuccess and onTimeout). You need to pass callback name within URL if you need it.
var $jsonp = (function(){
var that = {};
that.send = function(src, options) {
var callback_name = options.callbackName || 'callback',
on_success = options.onSuccess || function(){},
on_timeout = options.onTimeout || function(){},
timeout = options.timeout || 10; // sec
var timeout_trigger = window.setTimeout(function(){
window[callback_name] = function(){};
on_timeout();
}, timeout * 1000);
window[callback_name] = function(data){
window.clearTimeout(timeout_trigger);
on_success(data);
}
var script = document.createElement('script');
script.type = 'text/javascript';
script.async = true;
script.src = src;
document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(script);
}
return that;
})();
Sample usage:
$jsonp.send('some_url?callback=handleStuff', {
callbackName: 'handleStuff',
onSuccess: function(json){
console.log('success!', json);
},
onTimeout: function(){
console.log('timeout!');
},
timeout: 5
});
At GitHub: https://github.com/sobstel/jsonp.js/blob/master/jsonp.js

What is JSONP?
The important thing to remember with jsonp is that it isn't actually a protocol or data type. Its just a way of loading a script on the fly and processing the script that is introduced to the page. In the spirit of JSONP, this means introducing a new javascript object from the server into the client application/ script.
When is JSONP needed?
It is 1 method of allowing one domain to access/ process data from another in the same page asyncronously. Primarily, it is used to override CORS (Cross Origin Resource Sharing) restrictions which would occur with an XHR (ajax) request. Script loads are not subject to CORS restrictions.
How is it done
Introducing a new javascript object from the server can be implemented in many ways, but the most common practice is for the server to implement the execution of a 'callback' function, with the required object passed into it. The callback function is just a function you have already set up on the client which the script you load calls at the point the script loads to process the data passed in to it.
Example:
I have an application which logs all items in someone's home. My application is set up and I now want to retrieve all the items in the main bedroom.
My application is on app.home.com. The apis I need to load data from are on api.home.com.
Unless the server is explicitly set up to allow it, I cannot use ajax to load this data, as even pages on separate subdomains are subject to XHR CORS restrictions.
Ideally, set things up to allow x-domain XHR
Ideally, since the api and app are on the same domain, I might have access to set up the headers on api.home.com. If I do, I can add an Access-Control-Allow-Origin: header item granting access to app.home.com. Assuming the header is set up as follows: Access-Control-Allow-Origin: "http://app.home.com", this is far more secure than setting up JSONP. This is because app.home.com can get everything it wants from api.home.com without api.home.com giving CORS access to the whole internet.
The above XHR solution isn't possible. Set up JSONP On my client script: I set up a function to process the reponse from the server when I make the JSONP call.:
function processJSONPResponse(data) {
var dataFromServer = data;
}
The server will need to be set up to return a mini script looking something like "processJSONPResponse('{"room":"main bedroom","items":["bed","chest of drawers"]}');" It might be designed to return such a string if something like //api.home.com?getdata=room&room=main_bedroom is called.
Then the client sets up a script tag as such:
var script = document.createElement('script');
script.src = '//api.home.com?getdata=room&room=main_bedroom';
document.querySelector('head').appendChild(script);
This loads the script and immediately calls window.processJSONPResponse() as written/ echo/ printed out by the server. The data passed in as the parameter to the function is now stored in the dataFromServer local variable and you can do with it whatever you need.
Clean up
Once the client has the data, ie. immediately after the script is added to the DOM, the script element can be removed from the DOM:
script.parentNode.removeChild(script);

My understanding is that you actually use script tags with JSONP, sooo...
The first step is to create your function that will handle the JSON:
function hooray(json) {
// dealin wit teh jsonz
}
Make sure that this function is accessible on a global level.
Next, add a script element to the DOM:
var script = document.createElement('script');
script.src = 'http://domain.com/?function=hooray';
document.body.appendChild(script);
The script will load the JavaScript that the API provider builds, and execute it.

the way I use jsonp like below:
function jsonp(uri) {
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
var id = '_' + Math.round(10000 * Math.random());
var callbackName = 'jsonp_callback_' + id;
window[callbackName] = function(data) {
delete window[callbackName];
var ele = document.getElementById(id);
ele.parentNode.removeChild(ele);
resolve(data);
}
var src = uri + '&callback=' + callbackName;
var script = document.createElement('script');
script.src = src;
script.id = id;
script.addEventListener('error', reject);
(document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.body || document.documentElement).appendChild(script)
});
}
then use 'jsonp' method like this:
jsonp('http://xxx/cors').then(function(data){
console.log(data);
});
reference:
JavaScript XMLHttpRequest using JsonP
http://www.w3ctech.com/topic/721 (talk about the way of use Promise)

I have a pure javascript library to do that https://github.com/robertodecurnex/J50Npi/blob/master/J50Npi.js
Take a look at it and let me know if you need any help using or understanding the code.
Btw, you have simple usage example here: http://robertodecurnex.github.com/J50Npi/

/**
* Loads data asynchronously via JSONP.
*/
const load = (() => {
let index = 0;
const timeout = 5000;
return url => new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
const callback = '__callback' + index++;
const timeoutID = window.setTimeout(() => {
reject(new Error('Request timeout.'));
}, timeout);
window[callback] = response => {
window.clearTimeout(timeoutID);
resolve(response.data);
};
const script = document.createElement('script');
script.type = 'text/javascript';
script.async = true;
script.src = url + (url.indexOf('?') === -1 ? '?' : '&') + 'callback=' + callback;
document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(script);
});
})();
Usage sample:
const data = await load('http://api.github.com/orgs/kriasoft');

I wrote a library to handle this, as simply as possible. No need to make it external, its just one function. Unlike some other options, this script cleans up after itself, and is generalized for making further requests at runtime.
https://github.com/Fresheyeball/micro-jsonp
function jsonp(url, key, callback) {
var appendParam = function(url, key, param){
return url
+ (url.indexOf("?") > 0 ? "&" : "?")
+ key + "=" + param;
},
createScript = function(url, callback){
var doc = document,
head = doc.head,
script = doc.createElement("script");
script
.setAttribute("src", url);
head
.appendChild(script);
callback(function(){
setTimeout(function(){
head
.removeChild(script);
}, 0);
});
},
q =
"q" + Math.round(Math.random() * Date.now());
createScript(
appendParam(url, key, q), function(remove){
window[q] =
function(json){
window[q] = undefined;
remove();
callback(json);
};
});
}

Please find below JavaScript example to make a JSONP call without JQuery:
Also, you can refer my GitHub repository for reference.
https://github.com/shedagemayur/JavaScriptCode/tree/master/jsonp
window.onload = function(){
var callbackMethod = 'callback_' + new Date().getTime();
var script = document.createElement('script');
script.src = 'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users/1?callback='+callbackMethod;
document.body.appendChild(script);
window[callbackMethod] = function(data){
delete window[callbackMethod];
document.body.removeChild(script);
console.log(data);
}
}

/**
* Get JSONP data for cross-domain AJAX requests
* #private
* #link http://cameronspear.com/blog/exactly-what-is-jsonp/
* #param {String} url The URL of the JSON request
* #param {String} callback The name of the callback to run on load
*/
var loadJSONP = function ( url, callback ) {
// Create script with url and callback (if specified)
var ref = window.document.getElementsByTagName( 'script' )[ 0 ];
var script = window.document.createElement( 'script' );
script.src = url + (url.indexOf( '?' ) + 1 ? '&' : '?') + 'callback=' + callback;
// Insert script tag into the DOM (append to <head>)
ref.parentNode.insertBefore( script, ref );
// After the script is loaded (and executed), remove it
script.onload = function () {
this.remove();
};
};
/**
* Example
*/
// Function to run on success
var logAPI = function ( data ) {
console.log( data );
}
// Run request
loadJSONP( 'http://api.petfinder.com/shelter.getPets?format=json&key=12345&shelter=AA11', 'logAPI' );

If you are using ES6 with NPM, you can try node module "fetch-jsonp".
Fetch API Provides support for making a JsonP call as a regular XHR call.
Prerequisite:
you should be using isomorphic-fetch node module in your stack.

Just pasting an ES6 version of sobstel's nice answer:
send(someUrl + 'error?d=' + encodeURI(JSON.stringify(json)) + '&callback=c', 'c', 5)
.then((json) => console.log(json))
.catch((err) => console.log(err))
function send(url, callback, timeout) {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
let script = document.createElement('script')
let timeout_trigger = window.setTimeout(() => {
window[callback] = () => {}
script.parentNode.removeChild(script)
reject('No response')
}, timeout * 1000)
window[callback] = (data) => {
window.clearTimeout(timeout_trigger)
script.parentNode.removeChild(script)
resolve(data)
}
script.type = 'text/javascript'
script.async = true
script.src = url
document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(script)
})
}

Call a javascript tag in a javascript code [duplicate]

How can you reliably and dynamically load a JavaScript file? This will can be used to implement a module or component that when 'initialized' the component will dynamically load all needed JavaScript library scripts on demand.
The client that uses the component isn't required to load all the library script files (and manually insert <script> tags into their web page) that implement this component - just the 'main' component script file.
How do mainstream JavaScript libraries accomplish this (Prototype, jQuery, etc)? Do these tools merge multiple JavaScript files into a single redistributable 'build' version of a script file? Or do they do any dynamic loading of ancillary 'library' scripts?
An addition to this question: is there a way to handle the event after a dynamically included JavaScript file is loaded? Prototype has document.observe for document-wide events. Example:
document.observe("dom:loaded", function() {
// initially hide all containers for tab content
$$('div.tabcontent').invoke('hide');
});
What are the available events for a script element?

You may create a script element dynamically, using Prototypes:
new Element("script", {src: "myBigCodeLibrary.js", type: "text/javascript"});
The problem here is that we do not know when the external script file is fully loaded.
We often want our dependant code on the very next line and like to write something like:
if (iNeedSomeMore) {
Script.load("myBigCodeLibrary.js"); // includes code for myFancyMethod();
myFancyMethod(); // cool, no need for callbacks!
}
There is a smart way to inject script dependencies without the need of callbacks. You simply have to pull the script via a synchronous AJAX request and eval the script on global level.
If you use Prototype the Script.load method looks like this:
var Script = {
_loadedScripts: [],
include: function(script) {
// include script only once
if (this._loadedScripts.include(script)) {
return false;
}
// request file synchronous
var code = new Ajax.Request(script, {
asynchronous: false,
method: "GET",
evalJS: false,
evalJSON: false
}).transport.responseText;
// eval code on global level
if (Prototype.Browser.IE) {
window.execScript(code);
} else if (Prototype.Browser.WebKit) {
$$("head").first().insert(Object.extend(
new Element("script", {
type: "text/javascript"
}), {
text: code
}
));
} else {
window.eval(code);
}
// remember included script
this._loadedScripts.push(script);
}
};

There is no import / include / require in javascript, but there are two main ways to achieve what you want:
1 - You can load it with an AJAX call then use eval.
This is the most straightforward way but it's limited to your domain because of the Javascript safety settings, and using eval is opening the door to bugs and hacks.
2 - Add a script element with the script URL in the HTML.
Definitely the best way to go. You can load the script even from a foreign server, and it's clean as you use the browser parser to evaluate the code. You can put the script element in the head element of the web page, or at the bottom of the body.
Both of these solutions are discussed and illustrated here.
Now, there is a big issue you must know about. Doing that implies that you remotely load the code. Modern web browsers will load the file and keep executing your current script because they load everything asynchronously to improve performances.
It means that if you use these tricks directly, you won't be able to use your newly loaded code the next line after you asked it to be loaded, because it will be still loading.
E.G : my_lovely_script.js contains MySuperObject
var js = document.createElement("script");
js.type = "text/javascript";
js.src = jsFilePath;
document.body.appendChild(js);
var s = new MySuperObject();
Error : MySuperObject is undefined
Then you reload the page hitting F5. And it works! Confusing...
So what to do about it ?
Well, you can use the hack the author suggests in the link I gave you. In summary, for people in a hurry, he uses en event to run a callback function when the script is loaded. So you can put all the code using the remote library in the callback function. E.G :
function loadScript(url, callback)
{
// adding the script element to the head as suggested before
var head = document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0];
var script = document.createElement('script');
script.type = 'text/javascript';
script.src = url;
// then bind the event to the callback function
// there are several events for cross browser compatibility
script.onreadystatechange = callback;
script.onload = callback;
// fire the loading
head.appendChild(script);
}
Then you write the code you want to use AFTER the script is loaded in a lambda function :
var myPrettyCode = function() {
// here, do what ever you want
};
Then you run all that :
loadScript("my_lovely_script.js", myPrettyCode);
Ok, I got it. But it's a pain to write all this stuff.
Well, in that case, you can use as always the fantastic free jQuery framework, which let you do the very same thing in one line :
$.getScript("my_lovely_script.js", function() {
alert("Script loaded and executed.");
// here you can use anything you defined in the loaded script
});

I used a much less complicated version recently with jQuery:
<script src="scripts/jquery.js"></script>
<script>
var js = ["scripts/jquery.dimensions.js", "scripts/shadedborder.js", "scripts/jqmodal.js", "scripts/main.js"];
var $head = $("head");
for (var i = 0; i < js.length; i++) {
$head.append("<script src=\"" + js[i] + "\"></scr" + "ipt>");
}
</script>
It worked great in every browser I tested it in: IE6/7, Firefox, Safari, Opera.
Update: jQuery-less version:
<script>
var js = ["scripts/jquery.dimensions.js", "scripts/shadedborder.js", "scripts/jqmodal.js", "scripts/main.js"];
for (var i = 0, l = js.length; i < l; i++) {
document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].innerHTML += ("<script src=\"" + js[i] + "\"></scr" + "ipt>");
}
</script>

I did basically the same thing that you did Adam, but with a slight modification to make sure I was appending to the head element to get the job done. I simply created an include function (code below) to handle both script and CSS files.
This function also checks to make sure that the script or CSS file hasn't already been loaded dynamically. It does not check for hand coded values and there may have been a better way to do that, but it served the purpose.
function include( url, type ){
// First make sure it hasn't been loaded by something else.
if( Array.contains( includedFile, url ) )
return;
// Determine the MIME type.
var jsExpr = new RegExp( "js$", "i" );
var cssExpr = new RegExp( "css$", "i" );
if( type == null )
if( jsExpr.test( url ) )
type = 'text/javascript';
else if( cssExpr.test( url ) )
type = 'text/css';
// Create the appropriate element.
var element = null;
switch( type ){
case 'text/javascript' :
element = document.createElement( 'script' );
element.type = type;
element.src = url;
break;
case 'text/css' :
element = document.createElement( 'link' );
element.rel = 'stylesheet';
element.type = type;
element.href = url;
break;
}
// Insert it to the <head> and the array to ensure it is not
// loaded again.
document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild( element );
Array.add( includedFile, url );
}

another awesome answer
$.getScript("my_lovely_script.js", function(){
alert("Script loaded and executed.");
// here you can use anything you defined in the loaded script
});
https://stackoverflow.com/a/950146/671046

Dynamic module import landed in Firefox 67+.
(async () => {
await import('./synth/BubbleSynth.js')
})()
With error handling:
(async () => {
await import('./synth/BubbleSynth.js').catch((error) => console.log('Loading failed' + error))
})()
It also works for any kind of non-modules libraries, on this case the lib is available on the window.self object, the old way, but only on demand, which is nice.
Example using suncalc.js, the server must have CORS enabled to works this way!
(async () => {
await import('https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/suncalc/1.8.0/suncalc.min.js')
.then( () => {
let times = SunCalc.getTimes(new Date(), 51.5,-0.1);
console.log("Golden Hour today in London: " + times.goldenHour.getHours() + ':' + times.goldenHour.getMinutes() + ". Take your pics!")
})
})()
https://caniuse.com/#feat=es6-module-dynamic-import

Here is some example code I've found... does anyone have a better way?
function include(url)
{
var s = document.createElement("script");
s.setAttribute("type", "text/javascript");
s.setAttribute("src", url);
var nodes = document.getElementsByTagName("*");
var node = nodes[nodes.length -1].parentNode;
node.appendChild(s);
}

If you have jQuery loaded already, you should use $.getScript.
This has an advantage over the other answers here in that you have a built in callback function (to guarantee the script is loaded before the dependant code runs) and you can control caching.

With Promises you can simplify it like this.
Loader function:
const loadCDN = src =>
new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
if (document.querySelector(`head > script[src="${src}"]`) !== null) return resolve()
const script = document.createElement("script")
script.src = src
script.async = true
document.head.appendChild(script)
script.onload = resolve
script.onerror = reject
})
Usage (async/await):
await loadCDN("https://.../script.js")
Usage (Promise):
loadCDN("https://.../script.js").then(res => {}).catch(err => {})
NOTE: there was one similar solution but it doesn't check if the script is already loaded and loads the script each time. This one checks src property.

If you want a SYNC script loading, you need to add script text directly to HTML HEAD element. Adding it as will trigger an ASYNC load. To load script text from external file synchronously, use XHR. Below a quick sample (it is using parts of other answers in this and other posts):
/*sample requires an additional method for array prototype:*/
if (Array.prototype.contains === undefined) {
Array.prototype.contains = function (obj) {
var i = this.length;
while (i--) { if (this[i] === obj) return true; }
return false;
};
};
/*define object that will wrap our logic*/
var ScriptLoader = {
LoadedFiles: [],
LoadFile: function (url) {
var self = this;
if (this.LoadedFiles.contains(url)) return;
var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.onload = function () {
if (xhr.readyState === 4) {
if (xhr.status === 200) {
self.LoadedFiles.push(url);
self.AddScript(xhr.responseText);
} else {
if (console) console.error(xhr.statusText);
}
}
};
xhr.open("GET", url, false);/*last parameter defines if call is async or not*/
xhr.send(null);
},
AddScript: function (code) {
var oNew = document.createElement("script");
oNew.type = "text/javascript";
oNew.textContent = code;
document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(oNew);
}
};
/*Load script file. ScriptLoader will check if you try to load a file that has already been loaded (this check might be better, but I'm lazy).*/
ScriptLoader.LoadFile("Scripts/jquery-2.0.1.min.js");
ScriptLoader.LoadFile("Scripts/jquery-2.0.1.min.js");
/*this will be executed right after upper lines. It requires jquery to execute. It requires a HTML input with id "tb1"*/
$(function () { alert($('#tb1').val()); });

does anyone have a better way?
I think just adding the script to the body would be easier then adding it to the last node on the page. How about this:
function include(url) {
var s = document.createElement("script");
s.setAttribute("type", "text/javascript");
s.setAttribute("src", url);
document.body.appendChild(s);
}

i've used yet another solution i found on the net ... this one is under creativecommons and it checks if the source was included prior to calling the function ...
you can find the file here: include.js
/** include - including .js files from JS - bfults#gmail.com - 2005-02-09
** Code licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
** http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
**/
var hIncludes = null;
function include(sURI)
{
if (document.getElementsByTagName)
{
if (!hIncludes)
{
hIncludes = {};
var cScripts = document.getElementsByTagName("script");
for (var i=0,len=cScripts.length; i < len; i++)
if (cScripts[i].src) hIncludes[cScripts[i].src] = true;
}
if (!hIncludes[sURI])
{
var oNew = document.createElement("script");
oNew.type = "text/javascript";
oNew.src = sURI;
hIncludes[sURI]=true;
document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(oNew);
}
}
}

Just found out about a great feature in YUI 3 (at the time of writing available in preview release). You can easily insert dependencies to YUI libraries and to "external" modules (what you are looking for) without too much code: YUI Loader.
It also answers your second question regarding the function being called as soon as the external module is loaded.
Example:
YUI({
modules: {
'simple': {
fullpath: "http://example.com/public/js/simple.js"
},
'complicated': {
fullpath: "http://example.com/public/js/complicated.js"
requires: ['simple'] // <-- dependency to 'simple' module
}
},
timeout: 10000
}).use('complicated', function(Y, result) {
// called as soon as 'complicated' is loaded
if (!result.success) {
// loading failed, or timeout
handleError(result.msg);
} else {
// call a function that needs 'complicated'
doSomethingComplicated(...);
}
});
Worked perfectly for me and has the advantage of managing dependencies. Refer to the YUI documentation for an example with YUI 2 calendar.

I know my answer is bit late for this question, but, here is a great article in www.html5rocks.com - Deep dive into the murky waters of script loading .
In that article it is concluded that in regards of browser support, the best way to dynamically load JavaScript file without blocking content rendering is the following way:
Considering you've four scripts named script1.js, script2.js, script3.js, script4.js then you can do it with applying async = false:
[
'script1.js',
'script2.js',
'script3.js',
'script4.js'
].forEach(function(src) {
var script = document.createElement('script');
script.src = src;
script.async = false;
document.head.appendChild(script);
});
Now, Spec says: Download together, execute in order as soon as all download.
Firefox < 3.6, Opera says: I have no idea what this “async” thing is, but it just so happens I execute scripts added via JS in the order they’re added.
Safari 5.0 says: I understand “async”, but don’t understand setting it to “false” with JS. I’ll execute your scripts as soon as they land, in whatever order.
IE < 10 says: No idea about “async”, but there is a workaround using “onreadystatechange”.
Everything else says: I’m your friend, we’re going to do this by the book.
Now, the full code with IE < 10 workaround:
var scripts = [
'script1.js',
'script2.js',
'script3.js',
'script4.js'
];
var src;
var script;
var pendingScripts = [];
var firstScript = document.scripts[0];
// Watch scripts load in IE
function stateChange() {
// Execute as many scripts in order as we can
var pendingScript;
while (pendingScripts[0] && pendingScripts[0].readyState == 'loaded') {
pendingScript = pendingScripts.shift();
// avoid future loading events from this script (eg, if src changes)
pendingScript.onreadystatechange = null;
// can't just appendChild, old IE bug if element isn't closed
firstScript.parentNode.insertBefore(pendingScript, firstScript);
}
}
// loop through our script urls
while (src = scripts.shift()) {
if ('async' in firstScript) { // modern browsers
script = document.createElement('script');
script.async = false;
script.src = src;
document.head.appendChild(script);
}
else if (firstScript.readyState) { // IE<10
// create a script and add it to our todo pile
script = document.createElement('script');
pendingScripts.push(script);
// listen for state changes
script.onreadystatechange = stateChange;
// must set src AFTER adding onreadystatechange listener
// else we’ll miss the loaded event for cached scripts
script.src = src;
}
else { // fall back to defer
document.write('<script src="' + src + '" defer></'+'script>');
}
}
A few tricks and minification later, it’s 362 bytes
!function(e,t,r){function n(){for(;d[0]&&"loaded"==d[0][f];)c=d.shift(),c[o]=!i.parentNode.insertBefore(c,i)}for(var s,a,c,d=[],i=e.scripts[0],o="onreadystatechange",f="readyState";s=r.shift();)a=e.createElement(t),"async"in i?(a.async=!1,e.head.appendChild(a)):i[f]?(d.push(a),a[o]=n):e.write("<"+t+' src="'+s+'" defer></'+t+">"),a.src=s}(document,"script",[
"//other-domain.com/1.js",
"2.js"
])

There's a new proposed ECMA standard called dynamic import, recently incorporated into Chrome and Safari.
const moduleSpecifier = './dir/someModule.js';
import(moduleSpecifier)
.then(someModule => someModule.foo()); // executes foo method in someModule

The technique we use at work is to request the javascript file using an AJAX request and then eval() the return. If you're using the prototype library, they support this functionality in their Ajax.Request call.

jquery resolved this for me with its .append() function
- used this to load the complete jquery ui package
/*
* FILENAME : project.library.js
* USAGE : loads any javascript library
*/
var dirPath = "../js/";
var library = ["functions.js","swfobject.js","jquery.jeditable.mini.js","jquery-ui-1.8.8.custom.min.js","ui/jquery.ui.core.min.js","ui/jquery.ui.widget.min.js","ui/jquery.ui.position.min.js","ui/jquery.ui.button.min.js","ui/jquery.ui.mouse.min.js","ui/jquery.ui.dialog.min.js","ui/jquery.effects.core.min.js","ui/jquery.effects.blind.min.js","ui/jquery.effects.fade.min.js","ui/jquery.effects.slide.min.js","ui/jquery.effects.transfer.min.js"];
for(var script in library){
$('head').append('<script type="text/javascript" src="' + dirPath + library[script] + '"></script>');
}
To Use - in the head of your html/php/etc after you import jquery.js you would just include this one file like so to load in the entirety of your library appending it to the head...
<script type="text/javascript" src="project.library.js"></script>

Keep it nice, short, simple, and maintainable! :]
// 3rd party plugins / script (don't forget the full path is necessary)
var FULL_PATH = '', s =
[
FULL_PATH + 'plugins/script.js' // Script example
FULL_PATH + 'plugins/jquery.1.2.js', // jQuery Library
FULL_PATH + 'plugins/crypto-js/hmac-sha1.js', // CryptoJS
FULL_PATH + 'plugins/crypto-js/enc-base64-min.js' // CryptoJS
];
function load(url)
{
var ajax = new XMLHttpRequest();
ajax.open('GET', url, false);
ajax.onreadystatechange = function ()
{
var script = ajax.response || ajax.responseText;
if (ajax.readyState === 4)
{
switch(ajax.status)
{
case 200:
eval.apply( window, [script] );
console.log("library loaded: ", url);
break;
default:
console.log("ERROR: library not loaded: ", url);
}
}
};
ajax.send(null);
}
// initialize a single load
load('plugins/script.js');
// initialize a full load of scripts
if (s.length > 0)
{
for (i = 0; i < s.length; i++)
{
load(s[i]);
}
}
This code is simply a short functional example that could require additional feature functionality for full support on any (or given) platform.

Something like this...
<script>
$(document).ready(function() {
$('body').append('<script src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=KEY&libraries=places&callback=getCurrentPickupLocation" async defer><\/script>');
});
</script>

This works:
await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
let js = document.createElement("script");
js.src = "mylibrary.js";
js.onload = resolve;
js.onerror = reject;
document.body.appendChild(js)
});
Obviously if the script you want to import is a module, you can use the import(...) function.

There are scripts that are designed specifically for this purpose.
yepnope.js is built into Modernizr, and lab.js is a more optimized (but less user friendly version.
I wouldn't reccomend doing this through a big library like jquery or prototype - because one of the major benefits of a script loader is the ability to load scripts early - you shouldn't have to wait until jquery & all your dom elements load before running a check to see if you want to dynamically load a script.

I wrote a simple module that automatizes the job of importing/including module scripts in JavaScript. Give it a try and please spare some feedback! :) For detailed explanation of the code refer to this blog post: http://stamat.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/javascript-require-import-include-modules/
var _rmod = _rmod || {}; //require module namespace
_rmod.on_ready_fn_stack = [];
_rmod.libpath = '';
_rmod.imported = {};
_rmod.loading = {
scripts: {},
length: 0
};
_rmod.findScriptPath = function(script_name) {
var script_elems = document.getElementsByTagName('script');
for (var i = 0; i < script_elems.length; i++) {
if (script_elems[i].src.endsWith(script_name)) {
var href = window.location.href;
href = href.substring(0, href.lastIndexOf('/'));
var url = script_elems[i].src.substring(0, script_elems[i].length - script_name.length);
return url.substring(href.length+1, url.length);
}
}
return '';
};
_rmod.libpath = _rmod.findScriptPath('script.js'); //Path of your main script used to mark the root directory of your library, any library
_rmod.injectScript = function(script_name, uri, callback, prepare) {
if(!prepare)
prepare(script_name, uri);
var script_elem = document.createElement('script');
script_elem.type = 'text/javascript';
script_elem.title = script_name;
script_elem.src = uri;
script_elem.async = true;
script_elem.defer = false;
if(!callback)
script_elem.onload = function() {
callback(script_name, uri);
};
document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(script_elem);
};
_rmod.requirePrepare = function(script_name, uri) {
_rmod.loading.scripts[script_name] = uri;
_rmod.loading.length++;
};
_rmod.requireCallback = function(script_name, uri) {
_rmod.loading.length--;
delete _rmod.loading.scripts[script_name];
_rmod.imported[script_name] = uri;
if(_rmod.loading.length == 0)
_rmod.onReady();
};
_rmod.onReady = function() {
if (!_rmod.LOADED) {
for (var i = 0; i < _rmod.on_ready_fn_stack.length; i++){
_rmod.on_ready_fn_stack[i]();
});
_rmod.LOADED = true;
}
};
//you can rename based on your liking. I chose require, but it can be called include or anything else that is easy for you to remember or write, except import because it is reserved for future use.
var require = function(script_name) {
var np = script_name.split('.');
if (np[np.length-1] === '*') {
np.pop();
np.push('_all');
}
script_name = np.join('.');
var uri = _rmod.libpath + np.join('/')+'.js';
if (!_rmod.loading.scripts.hasOwnProperty(script_name)
&& !_rmod.imported.hasOwnProperty(script_name)) {
_rmod.injectScript(script_name, uri,
_rmod.requireCallback,
_rmod.requirePrepare);
}
};
var ready = function(fn) {
_rmod.on_ready_fn_stack.push(fn);
};
// ----- USAGE -----
require('ivar.util.array');
require('ivar.util.string');
require('ivar.net.*');
ready(function(){
//do something when required scripts are loaded
});

I am lost in all these samples but today I needed to load an external .js from my main .js and I did this:
document.write("<script src='https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js'></script>");

Here is a simple one with callback and IE support:
function loadScript(url, callback) {
var script = document.createElement("script")
script.type = "text/javascript";
if (script.readyState) { //IE
script.onreadystatechange = function () {
if (script.readyState == "loaded" || script.readyState == "complete") {
script.onreadystatechange = null;
callback();
}
};
} else { //Others
script.onload = function () {
callback();
};
}
script.src = url;
document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(script);
}
loadScript("https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.6.1/jquery.min.js", function () {
//jQuery loaded
console.log('jquery loaded');
});

Here a simple example for a function to load JS files. Relevant points:
you don't need jQuery, so you may use this initially to load also the jQuery.js file
it is async with callback
it ensures it loads only once, as it keeps an enclosure with the record of loaded urls, thus avoiding usage of network
contrary to jQuery $.ajax or $.getScript you can use nonces, solving thus issues with CSP unsafe-inline. Just use the property script.nonce
var getScriptOnce = function() {
var scriptArray = []; //array of urls (closure)
//function to defer loading of script
return function (url, callback){
//the array doesn't have such url
if (scriptArray.indexOf(url) === -1){
var script=document.createElement('script');
script.src=url;
var head=document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0],
done=false;
script.onload=script.onreadystatechange = function(){
if ( !done && (!this.readyState || this.readyState == 'loaded' || this.readyState == 'complete') ) {
done=true;
if (typeof callback === 'function') {
callback();
}
script.onload = script.onreadystatechange = null;
head.removeChild(script);
scriptArray.push(url);
}
};
head.appendChild(script);
}
};
}();
Now you use it simply by
getScriptOnce("url_of_your_JS_file.js");

For those of you, who love one-liners:
import('./myscript.js');
Chances are you might get an error, like:
Access to script at 'http://..../myscript.js' from origin
'http://127.0.0.1' has been blocked by CORS policy: No
'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header is present on the requested
resource.
In which case, you can fallback to:
fetch('myscript.js').then(r => r.text()).then(t => new Function(t)());

In as much as I love how handy the JQuery approach is, the JavaScript approach isn't that complicated but just require little tweaking to what you already use...
Here is how I load JS dynamically(Only when needed), and wait for them to load before executing the script that depends on them.
JavaScript Approach
//Create a script element that will load
let dynamicScript = document.createElement('script');
//Set source to the script we need to load
dynamicScript.src = 'linkToNeededJsFile.js';
//Set onload to callback function that depends on this script or do inline as shown below
dynamicScript.onload = () => {
//Code that depends on the loaded script should be here
};
//append the created script element to body element
document.body.append(dynamicScript);
There are other ways approach one could accomplish this with JS but, I prefer this as it's require the basic JS knowledge every dev can relate.
Not part of the answer but here is the JQuery version I prefer with projects that already include JQuery:
$.getScript('linkToNeededJsFile.js', () => {
//Code that depends on the loaded script should be here
});
More on the JQuery option here

This function uses memorization. And could be called many times with no conflicts of loading and running the same script twice. Also it's not resolving sooner than the script is actually loaded (like in #radulle answer).
const loadScript = function () {
let cache = {};
return function (src) {
return cache[src] || (cache[src] = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
let s = document.createElement('script');
s.defer = true;
s.src = src;
s.onload = resolve;
s.onerror = reject;
document.head.append(s);
}));
}
}();
Please notice the parentheses () after the function expression.
Parallel loading of scripts:
Promise.all([
loadScript('/script1.js'),
loadScript('/script2.js'),
// ...
]).then(() => {
// do something
})
You can use the same method for dynamic loading stylesheets.

all the major javascript libraries like jscript, prototype, YUI have support for loading script files. For example, in YUI, after loading the core you can do the following to load the calendar control
var loader = new YAHOO.util.YUILoader({
require: ['calendar'], // what components?
base: '../../build/',//where do they live?
//filter: "DEBUG", //use debug versions (or apply some
//some other filter?
//loadOptional: true, //load all optional dependencies?
//onSuccess is the function that YUI Loader
//should call when all components are successfully loaded.
onSuccess: function() {
//Once the YUI Calendar Control and dependencies are on
//the page, we'll verify that our target container is
//available in the DOM and then instantiate a default
//calendar into it:
YAHOO.util.Event.onAvailable("calendar_container", function() {
var myCal = new YAHOO.widget.Calendar("mycal_id", "calendar_container");
myCal.render();
})
},
// should a failure occur, the onFailure function will be executed
onFailure: function(o) {
alert("error: " + YAHOO.lang.dump(o));
}
});
// Calculate the dependency and insert the required scripts and css resources
// into the document
loader.insert();

I have tweaked some of the above post with working example.
Here we can give css and js in same array also.
$(document).ready(function(){
if (Array.prototype.contains === undefined) {
Array.prototype.contains = function (obj) {
var i = this.length;
while (i--) { if (this[i] === obj) return true; }
return false;
};
};
/* define object that will wrap our logic */
var jsScriptCssLoader = {
jsExpr : new RegExp( "js$", "i" ),
cssExpr : new RegExp( "css$", "i" ),
loadedFiles: [],
loadFile: function (cssJsFileArray) {
var self = this;
// remove duplicates with in array
cssJsFileArray.filter((item,index)=>cssJsFileArray.indexOf(item)==index)
var loadedFileArray = this.loadedFiles;
$.each(cssJsFileArray, function( index, url ) {
// if multiple arrays are loaded the check the uniqueness
if (loadedFileArray.contains(url)) return;
if( self.jsExpr.test( url ) ){
$.get(url, function(data) {
self.addScript(data);
});
}else if( self.cssExpr.test( url ) ){
$.get(url, function(data) {
self.addCss(data);
});
}
self.loadedFiles.push(url);
});
// don't load twice accross different arrays
},
addScript: function (code) {
var oNew = document.createElement("script");
oNew.type = "text/javascript";
oNew.textContent = code;
document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(oNew);
},
addCss: function (code) {
var oNew = document.createElement("style");
oNew.textContent = code;
document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(oNew);
}
};
//jsScriptCssLoader.loadFile(["css/1.css","css/2.css","css/3.css"]);
jsScriptCssLoader.loadFile(["js/common/1.js","js/2.js","js/common/file/fileReader.js"]);
});

How do I completely replace current DOM with a new one?

I tried a brief example:
document.body.innerHTML= '<script>alert(123);</script>'
I was expecting an alert window, but instead, nothing happened.
Why? How can I inject something to DOM that would actually run?
My intention is to be able to replace the current content of the page with completely new content, having possibly javascript calls...
PS: my original intention is to replace current page with a new one - and these instructions are to be done inside chrome extension's content script.

To inject javascript you need to append the #document HTML header
Note with some older browsers like NetScape 7.0 this method is not available because appending the document head does not work.
function XXX(){
this.linked_script = {};
this.loadJS = function(filename, callback){
callback = typeof callback !== 'undefined' ? callback : function(){};
var file = document.createElement("script");
file.setAttribute("type", "text/javascript");
file.setAttribute("src", filename);
file.onreadystatechange = function () {
if(this.readyState == 'complete' || this.readyState == 'loaded') {
that.linked_script[filename.replace(/[^a-zA-Z ]/g, "")] = file;
callback(file);
}
}
file.onload = callback;
if (typeof file !== "undefined")
document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(file);
};
this.removeResource = function(filename,from){
var key = filename.replace(/[^a-zA-Z ]/g, "");
if(key in from){
from[key].parentNode.removeChild(from[key]);
delete from[key];
}
};
}

As explained by the spec,
script elements inserted using innerHTML do not execute
when they are inserted.
Note innerHTML can still run JS (so you have to sanitize untrusted text):
document.body.innerHTML = '<img src="//" onerror="alert(123)" />';
But I don't recommend it. The proper way to run a string is using the devil eval (use carefully):
eval("alert(123)");

var script = document.createElement('script');
script.type = 'text/javascript';
script.innerHTML = 'alert(123);';
document.getElementById('element').appendChild(script);
Borrowing this from an older question, but it should work. Adapt the last line to pick your element you want to throw this into.
Source

need help understanding a short javascript script

Question 1: How does this code load css files asynchronously ?
I understand that script files are loaded asynchrounously because of script.async = true; but can't seem to find a similar line for css files.
Question 2: if this script uses script.async = true; does it still work on the newer browsers since async src"" exist or does this script cover it?
Question 3: does the script.async = true; only load javascript, jquery and ajax files asynchronously?
( function ( window, doc ) {
asyncLoader = function( urls, options ) {
urls.foreach( function( i, file ) {
loadFile( file, getExtension( file ), options );
});
// checking for a callback function
if( typeof options.callback == 'function') {
// calling the callback
var readyStateCheckInterval = setInterval( function() {
if( doc.readyState === 'complete' ) {
clearInterval( readyStateCheckInterval );
options.callback();
}
}, 10 );
}
}
var getExtension = function( file ) {
var extension = file.split('.');
return extension[extension.length - 1];
},
loadFile = function( file, ext, options ) {
switch( ext ) {
case 'js' :
loadJs( file, options );
break;
case 'css' :
loadCss( file );
break;
default :
break;
}
},
loadJs = function( url, options ) {
var script = document.createElement('script');
script.type = 'text/javascript';
script.async = true;
script.src = url;
document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild( script );
},
loadCss = function( url ) {
var link = document.createElement('link');
link.type = 'text/css';
link.rel = 'stylesheet';
link.href = url;
document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild( link );
}
// simple foreach implementation
Array.prototype.foreach = function( callback ) {
for( var i=0; i<this .length; i++ ) {
callback( i, this[ i ] );
}
}
})( this, document );

The CSS file is loaded asynchronously because it is evaluated immediately when it is appended. Append does this asynchronously while the rest of the DOM executes. I've seen some people use this same trick with a tag without using async = true and it seems to work as well without using async = true.
This still works on new browsers, even if you add the async attribute to your or tags. However, the javascript way is more of a workaround solution compared to using the new HTML5 async attribute and so solely using the async attribute inline is preferred if your not worried about supporting older browsers for async loading. The async attribute works much better and is built to work better and more intuitively with the DOM.
According to your switch statement, the script.async = true is only being called in the loadJs() function, which is only being called if the extension is '.js'. So yes, javascript, jQuery and ajax files will be loaded using script.async = true, because they have a '.js' extension, but so will any other '.js' file.
Here's a decent resource for more reading on the javascript async trick: async-javascript

how to integrate third-party JavaScript libraries in userscripts

For this userscript I'm writing, I need to use a third-party JavaScript library which has 3 JavaScript files. Since #require doesn't work on Chrome, how can I add multiple external JavaScript libraries to a userscript? I'm considering all the possibilities before choosing one.
I know you can add jQuery using this method. I have personally used that. Is it possible to add other libraries using this work-around as well?

Try adding following function in your userscript,
/**
* Dynamically loading javascript files.
*
* #param filename url of the file
* #param callback callback function, called when file is downloaded and ready
*/
function loadjscssfile(filename, callback) {
var fileref = document.createElement('script')
fileref.setAttribute("type", "text/javascript")
fileref.setAttribute("src", filename)
if (fileref.readyState) {
fileref.onreadystatechange = function() { /*IE*/
if (fileref.readyState == "loaded" || fileref.readyState == "complete") {
fileref.onreadystatechange = null;
callback();
}
}
} else {
fileref.onload = function() { /*Other browsers*/
callback();
}
}
// Try to find the head, otherwise default to the documentElement
if (typeof fileref != "undefined")
(document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0] || document.documentElement).appendChild(fileref)
}
As the files are loaded asynchronously, and order of the loading of files is not guaranteed, than
for multiple external files, call this function in a chined function e.g.
loadjscssfile("http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.6.3.min.js", function() {
loadjscssfile("http://www.abc.org./script/otherFile.js", function() {
// call your function that depends on the external libriries here.
});
});
Chain as many exeternal files as you need, the order of loading files will be properly preserved. Hope this helps, all best

While the other answers will work as well, I'd needed a little more flexibility. Here's the version I'd come up with: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/123588

function requireFiles(jsLibs, callback)
{
//array to hold the external libabry paths
var jsLibs = new Array();
jsLibs[0] = "http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.7.1.min.js"
jsLibs[1] = "https://raw.github.com/gildas-lormeau/zip.js/master/WebContent/zip.js"
jsLibs[2] = "https://raw.github.com/gildas-lormeau/zip.js/master/WebContent/deflate.js"
jsLibs[3] = "https://raw.github.com/gildas-lormeau/zip.js/master/WebContent/inflate.js"
var index = 0;
var requireNext = function()
{
var script = document.createElement("script");
if (index < jsLibs.length)
{
script.addEventListener("load", requireNext, false);
script.setAttribute("src", jsLibs[index++]);
}
else
{
script.textContent = "(" + callback.toString() + ")()";
}
document.body.appendChild(script);
}
requireNext();
}
function otherCode()
{
//rest of the script
}
requireFiles(otherCode);