What is the most efficient way to dynamically load and unload Javascript plugins?

Question

I would like to know the efficient way to dynamically load and unload Javascript plugins depending on options toggled on and off by the user.

Also, I was wondering if all the resources will really be freed if I simply remove the <script id="pluginId"> tag from the DOM ?

Thank you!

When you include a Javascript file, the state of the page is potentially changed. I doubt there is a way to "unload" a Javascript plugin/file. — Chad Johnson, Feb 24 '11 at 17:20
See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1346897/can-dynamically-loaded-javascript-be-unloaded — Roatin Marth, Feb 24 '11 at 17:22
Though if everything is attached to a namespace, you could potentially null everything out. Watch out for the memory leaks though. — Matthew Smith, Feb 24 '11 at 17:23

score -1 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 24 '11 at 17:22

You can create a script tag and insert it into the DOM in the header:

 var head= document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0];
 var script= document.createElement('script');
 script.type= 'text/javascript';
 script.src= 'helper.js';
 head.appendChild(script);

Snippet from http://unixpapa.com/js/dyna.html

What is the most efficient way to dynamically load and unload Javascript plugins?

1 Answers1