Load jQuery with Javascript and use jQuery

I am appending the jQuery library to the dom using:

 var script = document.createElement('script');
 script.src = 'https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.1/jquery.min.js';
 script.type = 'text/javascript';
 document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(script);

However when I run:

jQuery(document).ready(function(){...

The console reports the error:

Uncaught ReferenceError: jQuery is not defined

How do I load jQuery dynamically as well as use it once it is in the dom?

There's a working JSFiddle with a small example here, that demonstrates exactly what you are looking for (unless I've misunderstood your request): http://jsfiddle.net/9N7Z2/188/

There are a few issues with that method of loading javascript dynamically. When it comes to the very basal frameworks, like jQuery, you actually probably want to load them statically, because otherwise, you would have to write a whole JavaScript loading framework...

You could use some of the existing JavaScript loaders, or write your own by watching for window.jQuery to get defined.

// Immediately-invoked function expression
(function() {
  // Load the script
  const script = document.createElement("script");
  script.src = 'https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.6.0/jquery.min.js';
  script.type = 'text/javascript';
  script.addEventListener('load', () => {
    console.log(`jQuery ${$.fn.jquery} has been loaded successfully!`);
    // use jQuery below
  });
  document.head.appendChild(script);
})();

Just remember that if you need to support really old browsers, like IE8, load event handlers do not execute. In that case, you would need to poll for the existance of window.jQuery using repeated window.setTimeout. There is a working JSFiddle with that method here: http://jsfiddle.net/9N7Z2/3/

There are lots of people who have already done what you need to do. Check out some of the existing JavaScript Loader frameworks, like:

~~https://developers.google.com/loader/~~ (no longer documented)
~~http://yepnopejs.com/~~ (deprecated)
http://requirejs.org/

There is an other way to load jQuery dynamically (source). You could also use

document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.1/jquery.min.js"><\/script>');

It's considered bad practice to use document.write, but for sake of completion it's good to mention it.

See Why is document.write considered a "bad practice"? for the reasons. The pro is that document.write does block your page from loading other assests, so there is no need to create a callback function.

Load jQuery with Javascript and use jQuery

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