After reviewing the Google Javascript API project, I am torn. Pro’s and cons below… What do YOU think?
PRO
- Proper caching done
- Shared javascript location – no need to redownload if multiple sites use same library
- Easy to include method, can be as specific as needed for versioning (you can include major, major.minor, etc.)
CON
- If google goes down, you go down. Well, if caching is done right that doesn’t matter. Plus I’m sure you rely on your host not to go down either…
- If google ends the service, like they shut down other services, you have to re-architect again.
So, are YOU going to use it?
I do use google hosted js for a lot of my sites. The way I see it the pros definitely outweigh the cons. The neatest thing I see about google hosting the js is that when someone comes to your site, in all likelihood the are going to have your library (prototype, jquery, etc) cached already which obviously decreases load time on your site. Since js (in most cases) is just supposed to add to a website, having google go down will not be the end of the world.
The only true con I see is google ending the service. However, this will not add a ton of work to change. Maybe I should be adding a local copy of prototype to my sites to save time just in case.