SWFObject.js finds a home on Google servers

Cool news for SWFObject users: the swfobject.js file is now being hosted on Google’s servers as part of the AJAX Libraries API. This means you can directly link to the file on a Google server instead of maintaining a copy on your own server.

The benefits of using this service are many, with my favorites being:

• You will not need to maintain your own copy of the library (which for many developers means we don’t have to maintain multiple copies spread all over the place).
• Load time should be very fast because A) Google has speedy servers, B) Google’s versions are minified, and C) Google’s versions are properly gzipped.
• Downloading from Google’s server benefits your page’s load time because if other people also use Google’s API service, there’s a good chance the swfobject.js file is already cached in your browser and won’t need to be downloaded again.

The AJAX Libraries API also hosts other script files, most notably the JS frameworks MooTools, jQuery and Dojo. There’s a great intro to the AJAX Libraries API by Dion Almaer at ajaxian.com.

Bobby Van der Sluis has updated the SWFObject documentation to include instructions for using the hosted version of swfobject.js.

Note: I have updated all of my SWFObject 2.0 examples to use the AJAX Libraries API; if you encounter any examples that don’t work properly, please let me know.

Related posts:

1. SWFObject and Google Analytics
2. More SWFObject 2.0 examples
3. SWFObject examples have been updated
4. SWFObject is officially at 2.0
5. New: SWFObject examples page