I’m currently developing a web application and need to add JavaScript libraries. For well-known libraries like jQuery, I prefer using links from content delivery networks because they are speedy and dependable.
However, I am uncertain about how to handle less popular libraries that can only be found on GitHub. Is it advisable to use direct links to the files on GitHub, or should I download those files and store them on my server?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of both methods? I’m especially interested in the impact on reliability and loading times for my users.
Don’t link directly to GitHub for production sites. GitHub rate limits their raw files, so your site will break during high traffic. I learned this the hard way when one of my projects went down because of throttled requests. Instead, download the files and host them yourself, or use a CDN like jsDelivr that pulls from GitHub repos with better performance. You’ll have more control and better reliability, though you’ll need to do a bit more maintenance.
hosting locally is def the best choice. gitHub raw files can be slow and if they go down your app will too. jsDelivr is a decent middle ground since it mirrors repos and has caching without those annoying rate limits.
I always host JavaScript files locally for production. GitHub direct links aren’t meant for production and create security risks - if someone compromises the repo or the maintainer pushes bad code, you’re screwed. When you host locally, you control exactly what version runs and can check the code before deploying. Sure, you’ve got to handle updates manually, but that’s actually good since it forces you to test new versions properly. Plus loading times are usually better since everything serves from your domain without extra DNS lookups or relying on external stuff that might break.