HTML Scripts

Add scripts to HTML pages to make them more dynamic and interactive.


Insert a Script into HTML Page

A script in HTML is defined with the <script> tag. Note that you will have to use the type attribute to specify the scripting language.

<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
document.write("Hello World!")
</script>
</body>
</html>

The script above will produce this output:

Hello World!


How to Handle Older Browsers

A browser that does not recognize the <script> tag at all, will display the <script> tag’s content as text on the page. To prevent the browser from doing this, you should hide the script in comment tags. An old browser (that does not recognize the <script> tag) will ignore the comment and it will not write the tag’s content on the page, while a new browser will understand that the script should be executed, even if it is surrounded by comment tags.

Example

JavaScript:
<script type=”text/javascript”>
<!–
document.write(”Hello World!”)
//–>
</script>VBScript:
<script type=”text/vbscript”>
<!–
document.write(”Hello World!”)
‘–>
</script>

The <noscript> Tag

In addition to hiding the script inside a comment, you can also add a <noscript> tag.

The <noscript> tag is used to define an alternate text if a script is NOT executed. This tag is used for browsers that recognize the <script> tag, but do not support the script inside, so these browsers will display the text inside the <noscript> tag instead. However, if a browser supports the script inside the <script> tag it will ignore the <noscript> tag.

Example

JavaScript:
<script type=”text/javascript”>
<!–
document.write(”Hello World!”)
//–>
</script>
<noscript>Your browser does not support JavaScript!</noscript>VBScript:
<script type=”text/vbscript”>
<!–
document.write(”Hello World!”)
‘–>
</script>
<noscript>Your browser does not support VBScript!</noscript>

Script Tags

Tag Description
<script> Defines a script
<noscript> Defines an alternate text if the script is not executed
<object> Defines an embedded object
<param> Defines run-time settings (parameters) for an object
<applet> Deprecated. Use <object> instead

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