Is <!--// //--> needed in javascript anymore? What was it used for?

Question

Is needed in javascript anymore? What was it used for?

Thanks

Answer 1

It is not needed any more. It was used to hide Javascript in old old browsers that didn't understand the <script> tag. Every browser made since the mid 90s understands Javascript, even if it doesn't support it for some reason. It would be //<!-- and //--> . The leading // comments that line for browsers that understand Javascript. Browsers that don't understand Javascript would see the body of the script tag wrapped in an HTML comment ( <!-- --> ), so they still wouldn't render it as if it was plain text.

Answer 2

It was only needed for Netscape 1 and Mosaic.

From Douglas Crockford:

Do not use the <!-- //--> hack with scripts. It was intended to prevent scripts from showing up as text on the first generation browsers Netscape 1 and Mosaic.

It hasn't been needed...basically ever.

Answer 3

I believe it is used to ensure that browsers that don't understand javascript won't show it as text. A super old browser will render

<script type="text/javascript">
    var something = 0;
</script>

Just like a modern browser would render

<span>
    var something = 0;
</span>

Which, of course, is rendered as text. The comments at the beginning/end tell the browser to treat the contents as an HTML comment. Modern browsers know to ignore those.