README.md

Fallback Plan for Loading CSS and JS of Bootstrap 4

Shows how to load Bootstrap from local if that from remote failed

For Bootstrap 4.0.0 ~ 4.3.1(at least)

Some discussions

1. Stack Overflow: load local bootstrap css and js if load fail from remote
2. Edd Mann: Providing Local JS and CSS Resources for CDN Fallbacks
3. freeCodeCapm: Using a fallback code in case bootstrap’s cdn is down

Discussions for this project

By trial and error, I finally found out a better way to check and reload files when failed to load from remote.

1. It use defer function to make sure jQuery is loaded.
2. It'll try only 999 times on loading jQuery, so that you won't waste resource on keep trying. (modify as needed)
3. You cannot use document.write() as what jQuery does to Poper.js and Bootstrap.js since it'll delete all existing HTML.
4. Also, you cannot use $("body").append() as what bootstrap css does, since it won't works
5. And the <script></script> tag should be in the DOM for debugging, so use appendChild() instead.
6. Sample HTML code is avalible in repository, while the key part (JS code) is shown below.

<script>
  // MODIFY ALL URLS FOR SRC TO YOUR OWN PATH ON LOCALHOST
  // Test if jQuery is loaded. If not, load it locally.
  window.jQuery ||
  console.log("Local jQuery") ||
  document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src="/static/js/jquery-3.3.1.slim.min.js"><\/script>');

  // First, make sure jQuery is loaded.
  function defer(method, i = 0) {   // defer method 50ms until jQuery is ready or counter exceed 999
    if (window.jQuery) { method(); }
    else if (i < 999) { setTimeout(function () { defer(method, ++i) }, 50); }
  }
  function externalJS(url, log) {
    let script = document.createElement("script"); script.type = 'text/javascript'; script.src = url;
    $("body")[0].appendChild(script);   // use appendChild() rather than append()
    if (log) { console.log(log); }
  }
  defer(function () {
      // Second, test Bootstrap.css by its body color.
      // Should be "rgb(33, 37, 41)" (#212529) if loaded. (For Bootstrap 4.0.0 ~ 4.3.1 (at least))
      $("body").css("color") === "rgb(33, 37, 41)" ||
      console.log("Local Bootstrap CSS") ||
      $("head").append('<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/bootstrap.min.css">');

      // Last, test if Proper.js, Bootstrap.js and Bootstrap.css are loaded.
      window.Popper || externalJS("/static/js/popper.min.js", "Local Popper");
      window.jQuery.fn.modal || externalJS("/static/js/bootstrap.min.js", "Local Bootstrap JS");
  });
</script>