[javascript] $(document).ready equivalent without jQuery

I have a script that uses $(document).ready, but it doesn't use anything else from jQuery. I'd like to lighten it up by removing the jQuery dependency.

How can I implement my own $(document).ready functionality without using jQuery? I know that using window.onload will not be the same, as window.onload fires after all images, frames, etc. have been loaded.

Edit:

Here is a viable replacement for jQuery ready

function ready(callback){
    // in case the document is already rendered
    if (document.readyState!='loading') callback();
    // modern browsers
    else if (document.addEventListener) document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', callback);
    // IE <= 8
    else document.attachEvent('onreadystatechange', function(){
        if (document.readyState=='complete') callback();
    });
}

ready(function(){
    // do something
});

Taken from https://plainjs.com/javascript/events/running-code-when-the-document-is-ready-15/

Another good domReady function here taken from https://stackoverflow.com/a/9899701/175071

As the accepted answer was very far from complete, I stitched together a "ready" function like jQuery.ready() based on jQuery 1.6.2 source:

var ready = (function(){

    var readyList,
        DOMContentLoaded,
        class2type = {};
        class2type["[object Boolean]"] = "boolean";
        class2type["[object Number]"] = "number";
        class2type["[object String]"] = "string";
        class2type["[object Function]"] = "function";
        class2type["[object Array]"] = "array";
        class2type["[object Date]"] = "date";
        class2type["[object RegExp]"] = "regexp";
        class2type["[object Object]"] = "object";

    var ReadyObj = {
        // Is the DOM ready to be used? Set to true once it occurs.
        isReady: false,
        // A counter to track how many items to wait for before
        // the ready event fires. See #6781
        readyWait: 1,
        // Hold (or release) the ready event
        holdReady: function( hold ) {
            if ( hold ) {
                ReadyObj.readyWait++;
            } else {
                ReadyObj.ready( true );
            }
        },
        // Handle when the DOM is ready
        ready: function( wait ) {
            // Either a released hold or an DOMready/load event and not yet ready
            if ( (wait === true && !--ReadyObj.readyWait) || (wait !== true && !ReadyObj.isReady) ) {
                // Make sure body exists, at least, in case IE gets a little overzealous (ticket #5443).
                if ( !document.body ) {
                    return setTimeout( ReadyObj.ready, 1 );
                }

                // Remember that the DOM is ready
                ReadyObj.isReady = true;
                // If a normal DOM Ready event fired, decrement, and wait if need be
                if ( wait !== true && --ReadyObj.readyWait > 0 ) {
                    return;
                }
                // If there are functions bound, to execute
                readyList.resolveWith( document, [ ReadyObj ] );

                // Trigger any bound ready events
                //if ( ReadyObj.fn.trigger ) {
                //    ReadyObj( document ).trigger( "ready" ).unbind( "ready" );
                //}
            }
        },
        bindReady: function() {
            if ( readyList ) {
                return;
            }
            readyList = ReadyObj._Deferred();

            // Catch cases where $(document).ready() is called after the
            // browser event has already occurred.
            if ( document.readyState === "complete" ) {
                // Handle it asynchronously to allow scripts the opportunity to delay ready
                return setTimeout( ReadyObj.ready, 1 );
            }

            // Mozilla, Opera and webkit nightlies currently support this event
            if ( document.addEventListener ) {
                // Use the handy event callback
                document.addEventListener( "DOMContentLoaded", DOMContentLoaded, false );
                // A fallback to window.onload, that will always work
                window.addEventListener( "load", ReadyObj.ready, false );

            // If IE event model is used
            } else if ( document.attachEvent ) {
                // ensure firing before onload,
                // maybe late but safe also for iframes
                document.attachEvent( "onreadystatechange", DOMContentLoaded );

                // A fallback to window.onload, that will always work
                window.attachEvent( "onload", ReadyObj.ready );

                // If IE and not a frame
                // continually check to see if the document is ready
                var toplevel = false;

                try {
                    toplevel = window.frameElement == null;
                } catch(e) {}

                if ( document.documentElement.doScroll && toplevel ) {
                    doScrollCheck();
                }
            }
        },
        _Deferred: function() {
            var // callbacks list
                callbacks = [],
                // stored [ context , args ]
                fired,
                // to avoid firing when already doing so
                firing,
                // flag to know if the deferred has been cancelled
                cancelled,
                // the deferred itself
                deferred  = {

                    // done( f1, f2, ...)
                    done: function() {
                        if ( !cancelled ) {
                            var args = arguments,
                                i,
                                length,
                                elem,
                                type,
                                _fired;
                            if ( fired ) {
                                _fired = fired;
                                fired = 0;
                            }
                            for ( i = 0, length = args.length; i < length; i++ ) {
                                elem = args[ i ];
                                type = ReadyObj.type( elem );
                                if ( type === "array" ) {
                                    deferred.done.apply( deferred, elem );
                                } else if ( type === "function" ) {
                                    callbacks.push( elem );
                                }
                            }
                            if ( _fired ) {
                                deferred.resolveWith( _fired[ 0 ], _fired[ 1 ] );
                            }
                        }
                        return this;
                    },

                    // resolve with given context and args
                    resolveWith: function( context, args ) {
                        if ( !cancelled && !fired && !firing ) {
                            // make sure args are available (#8421)
                            args = args || [];
                            firing = 1;
                            try {
                                while( callbacks[ 0 ] ) {
                                    callbacks.shift().apply( context, args );//shifts a callback, and applies it to document
                                }
                            }
                            finally {
                                fired = [ context, args ];
                                firing = 0;
                            }
                        }
                        return this;
                    },

                    // resolve with this as context and given arguments
                    resolve: function() {
                        deferred.resolveWith( this, arguments );
                        return this;
                    },

                    // Has this deferred been resolved?
                    isResolved: function() {
                        return !!( firing || fired );
                    },

                    // Cancel
                    cancel: function() {
                        cancelled = 1;
                        callbacks = [];
                        return this;
                    }
                };

            return deferred;
        },
        type: function( obj ) {
            return obj == null ?
                String( obj ) :
                class2type[ Object.prototype.toString.call(obj) ] || "object";
        }
    }
    // The DOM ready check for Internet Explorer
    function doScrollCheck() {
        if ( ReadyObj.isReady ) {
            return;
        }

        try {
            // If IE is used, use the trick by Diego Perini
            // http://javascript.nwbox.com/IEContentLoaded/
            document.documentElement.doScroll("left");
        } catch(e) {
            setTimeout( doScrollCheck, 1 );
            return;
        }

        // and execute any waiting functions
        ReadyObj.ready();
    }
    // Cleanup functions for the document ready method
    if ( document.addEventListener ) {
        DOMContentLoaded = function() {
            document.removeEventListener( "DOMContentLoaded", DOMContentLoaded, false );
            ReadyObj.ready();
        };

    } else if ( document.attachEvent ) {
        DOMContentLoaded = function() {
            // Make sure body exists, at least, in case IE gets a little overzealous (ticket #5443).
            if ( document.readyState === "complete" ) {
                document.detachEvent( "onreadystatechange", DOMContentLoaded );
                ReadyObj.ready();
            }
        };
    }
    function ready( fn ) {
        // Attach the listeners
        ReadyObj.bindReady();

        var type = ReadyObj.type( fn );

        // Add the callback
        readyList.done( fn );//readyList is result of _Deferred()
    }
    return ready;
})();

How to use:

<script>
    ready(function(){
        alert('It works!');
    });
    ready(function(){
        alert('Also works!');
    });
</script>

I am not sure how functional this code is, but it worked fine with my superficial tests. This took quite a while, so I hope you and others can benefit from it.

PS.: I suggest compiling it.

Or you can use http://dustindiaz.com/smallest-domready-ever:

function r(f){/in/.test(document.readyState)?setTimeout(r,9,f):f()}
r(function(){/*code to run*/});

or the native function if you only need to support the new browsers (Unlike jQuery ready, this won't run if you add this after the page has loaded)

document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded',function(){/*fun code to run*/})

function onDocReady(fn){ 
    $d.readyState!=="loading" ? fn():document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded',fn);
}

function onWinLoad(fn){
    $d.readyState==="complete") ? fn(): window.addEventListener('load',fn);
} 

onDocReady provides a callback when the HTML dom is ready to fully access/parse/manipulate.

onWinLoad provides a callback when everything has loaded (images etc)

• These functions can be called whenever you want.
• Supports multiple "listeners".
• Will work in any browser.

This cross-browser code will call a function once the DOM is ready:

var domReady=function(func){
    var scriptText='('+func+')();';
    var scriptElement=document.createElement('script');
    scriptElement.innerText=scriptText;
    document.body.appendChild(scriptElement);
};

Here's how it works:

1. The first line of domReady calls the toString method of the function to get a string representation of the function you pass in and wraps it in an expression that immediately calls the function.
2. The rest of domReady creates a script element with the expression and appends it to the body of the document.
3. The browser runs script tags appended to body after the DOM is ready.

For example, if you do this: domReady(function(){alert();});, the following will appended to the body element:

 <script>(function (){alert();})();</script>

Note that this works only for user-defined functions. The following won't work: domReady(alert);

Three options:

1. If script is the last tag of the body, the DOM would be ready before script tag executes
2. When the DOM is ready, "readyState" will change to "complete"
3. Put everything under 'DOMContentLoaded' event listener

onreadystatechange

  document.onreadystatechange = function () {
     if (document.readyState == "complete") {
     // document is ready. Do your stuff here
   }
 }

Source: MDN

DOMContentLoaded

document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
   console.log('document is ready. I can sleep now');
});

Concerned about stone age browsers: Go to the jQuery source code and use the ready function. In that case you are not parsing+executing the whole library you're are doing only a very small part of it.

Works in all known browsers (tested via BrowserStack). IE6+, Safari 1+, Chrome 1+, Opera, etc. Uses DOMContentLoaded, with fallbacks to document.documentElement.doScroll() and window.onload.

/*! https://github.com/Kithraya/DOMContentLoaded v1.2.6 | MIT License */

DOMContentLoaded.version = "1.2.6";

function DOMContentLoaded() { "use strict";
    
    var ael = 'addEventListener', rel = 'removeEventListener', aev = 'attachEvent', dev = 'detachEvent';
    var alreadyRun = false, // for use in the idempotent function ready()
        funcs = arguments;
    
    // old versions of JS return '[object Object]' for null.
    function type(obj) { return (obj === null) ? 'null' : Object.prototype.toString.call(obj).slice(8,-1).toLowerCase() }
    function microtime() { return + new Date() } 
    
     /* document.readyState === 'complete' reports correctly in every browser I have tested, including IE.
        But IE6 to 10 don't return the correct readyState values as per the spec:
        readyState is sometimes 'interactive', even when the DOM isn't accessible in IE6/7 so checking for the onreadystatechange event like jQuery does is not optimal
        readyState is complete at basically the same time as 'window.onload' (they're functionally equivalent, within a few tenths of a second)
        Accessing undefined properties of a defined object (document) will not throw an error (in case readyState is undefined).
     */
    
    // Check for IE < 11 via conditional compilation
    /// values: 5?: IE5, 5.5?: IE5.5, 5.6/5.7: IE6/7, 5.8: IE8, 9: IE9, 10: IE10, 11*: (IE11 older doc mode), undefined: IE11 / NOT IE
    var jscript_version = Number( new Function("/*@cc_on return @_jscript_version; @*\/")() ) || NaN;
    
    // check if the DOM has already loaded
    if (document.readyState === 'complete') { ready(null); return; }  // here we send null as the readyTime, since we don't know when the DOM became ready.
    
    if (jscript_version < 9) { doIEScrollCheck(); return; } // For IE<9 poll document.documentElement.doScroll(), no further actions are needed.
    
     /* 
        Chrome, Edge, Firefox, IE9+, Opera 9+, Safari 3.1+, Android Webview, Chrome for Android, Edge Mobile, 
        Firefox for Android 4+, Opera for Android, iOS Safari, Samsung Internet, etc, support addEventListener
        And IE9+ supports 'DOMContentLoaded' 
     */
        
    if (document[ael]) {
        document[ael]("DOMContentLoaded", ready, false); 
        window[ael]("load", ready, false); // fallback to the load event in case addEventListener is supported, but not DOMContentLoaded
    } else 
    if (aev in window) { window[aev]('onload', ready);
        /* Old Opera has a default of window.attachEvent being falsy, so we use the in operator instead
           https://dev.opera.com/blog/window-event-attachevent-detachevent-script-onreadystatechange/

           Honestly if somebody is using a browser so outdated AND obscure (like Opera 7 where neither addEventListener 
           nor "DOMContLoaded" is supported, they deserve to wait for the full page).
           I CBA testing whether readyState === 'interactive' is truly interactive in browsers designed in 2003. I just assume it isn't (like in IE6-8). 
        */
    } else { // fallback to queue window.onload that will always work
       addOnload(ready);
    }
    
    
    // This function allows us to preserve any original window.onload handlers (in super old browsers where this is even necessary), 
    // while keeping the option to chain onloads, and dequeue them.
    
    function addOnload(fn) { var prev = window.onload; // old window.onload, which could be set by this function, or elsewhere
        
        // we add a function queue list to allow for dequeueing 
        // addOnload.queue is the queue of functions that we will run when when the DOM is ready
        if ( type( addOnload.queue ) !== 'array') { addOnload.queue = [];
            if ( type(prev) === 'function') { addOnload.queue.push( prev ); } // add the previously defined event handler
        }
        
        if (typeof fn === 'function') { addOnload.queue.push(fn) }

        window.onload = function() { // iterate through the queued functions
            for (var i = 0; i < addOnload.queue.length; i++) { addOnload.queue[i]() } 
        };
    }   

    // remove a queued window.onload function from the chain (simplified); 
    
    function dequeueOnload(fn) { var q = addOnload.queue, i = 0;
    
        // sort through the queued functions in addOnload.queue until we find `fn`
        if (type( q ) === 'array') {        // if found, remove from the queue
            for (; i < q.length; i++) { ;;(fn === q[i]) ? q.splice(i, 1) : 0; } // void( (fn === q[i]) ? q.splice(i, 1) : 0 ) 
        }
    }
    
    function ready(ev) { // idempotent event handler function
        if (alreadyRun) {return} alreadyRun = true; 
        
        // this time is when the DOM has loaded (or if all else fails, when it was actually possible to inference the DOM has loaded via a 'load' event)
        // perhaps this should be `null` if we have to inference readyTime via a 'load' event, but this functionality is better.
        var readyTime = microtime(); 
        
        detach(); // detach any event handlers
                        
        // run the functions
        for (var i=0; i < funcs.length; i++) {  var func = funcs[i];
            
            if (type(func) === 'function') {
                func.call(document, { 'readyTime': (ev === null ? null : readyTime), 'funcExecuteTime': microtime() }, func); 
                // jquery calls 'ready' with `this` being set to document, so we'll do the same. 
            }       
        }
    }

    function detach() {
        if (document[rel]) { 
            document[rel]("DOMContentLoaded", ready); window[rel]("load", ready);
        } else
        if (dev in window) { window[dev]("onload", ready); } 
        else {
            dequeueOnload(ready);
        }                                                               
    }
    
    function doIEScrollCheck() { // for use in IE < 9 only.
        if ( window.frameElement ) { 
            // we're in an <iframe> or similar
            // the document.documentElemeent.doScroll technique does not work if we're not at the top-level (parent document)

            try { window.attachEvent("onload", ready); } catch (e) { } // attach to onload if were in an <iframe> in IE as there's no way to tell otherwise
            
            return;
        } 
        try {
            document.documentElement.doScroll('left');  // when this statement no longer throws, the DOM is accessible in old IE
        } catch(error) {
            setTimeout(function() {
                (document.readyState === 'complete') ? ready() : doIEScrollCheck();
            }, 50);
            return;
        }
        ready();
    }
}

Usage:

<script>
DOMContentLoaded(function(e) { console.log(e) });
</script>

The jQuery answer was pretty useful to me. With a little refactory it fitted my needs well. I hope it helps anybody else.

function onReady ( callback ){
    var addListener = document.addEventListener || document.attachEvent,
        removeListener =  document.removeEventListener || document.detachEvent
        eventName = document.addEventListener ? "DOMContentLoaded" : "onreadystatechange"

    addListener.call(document, eventName, function(){
        removeListener( eventName, arguments.callee, false )
        callback()
    }, false )
}

We found a quick-and-dirty cross browser implementation of ours that may do the trick for most simple cases with a minimal implementation:

window.onReady = function onReady(fn){
    document.body ? fn() : setTimeout(function(){ onReady(fn);},50);
};

The following approach ensures a script functionality only runs when the document is ready, even if the script is loaded asynchronously.

Unlike JQuery's $(document).ready, DOMContentLoaded will not fire if the script is loaded dynamically afterwards.

(function ready() {
    if (!document.body) {return setTimeout(ready, 50);}
    // Document is ready here
})();

The same solution applies to any condition we want a script to be executed after. Say we are asynchronously loading JQuery and another custom script that requires JQuery. We don't know in advance which of the two will load first, but we can ensure that our custom script waits for JQuery to be present:

(function ready() {
    if (!window.$) {return setTimeout(ready, 50);}
    // JQuery is ready here
})();

Here is the smallest code snippet to test DOM ready which works across all browsers (even IE 8):

r(function(){
    alert('DOM Ready!');
});
function r(f){/in/.test(document.readyState)?setTimeout('r('+f+')',9):f()}

See this answer.

Really, if you care about Internet Explorer 9+ only, this code would be enough to replace jQuery.ready:

    document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", callback);

If you worry about Internet Explorer 6 and some really strange and rare browsers, this will work:

domReady: function (callback) {
    // Mozilla, Opera and WebKit
    if (document.addEventListener) {
        document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", callback, false);
        // If Internet Explorer, the event model is used
    } else if (document.attachEvent) {
        document.attachEvent("onreadystatechange", function() {
            if (document.readyState === "complete" ) {
                callback();
            }
        });
        // A fallback to window.onload, that will always work
    } else {
        var oldOnload = window.onload;
        window.onload = function () {
            oldOnload && oldOnload();
            callback();
        }
    }
},

Cross-browser (old browsers too) and a simple solution:

var docLoaded = setInterval(function () {
    if(document.readyState !== "complete") return;
    clearInterval(docLoaded);

    /*
        Your code goes here i.e. init()
    */
}, 30);

Showing alert in jsfiddle

The ready function in jQuery does a number of things. Frankly, I don't see that point of replacing it unless you have amazingly small output from your website. jQuery is a pretty tiny library, and it handles all sorts of cross-browser things you'll need later.

Anyway, there's little point in posting it here, just open up jQuery and look at the bindReady method.

It starts by calling either document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded") or document.attachEvent('onreadystatechange') depending on the event model, and goes on from there.

Most minimal and 100% working

I have picked the answer from PlainJS and it's working fine for me. It extends DOMContentLoaded so that it can be accepted at all the browsers.

This function is the equivalent of jQuery's $(document).ready() method:

document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function(){
    // do something
});

However, in contrast to jQuery, this code will only run properly in modern browsers (IE > 8) and it won't in case the document is already rendered at the time this script gets inserted (e.g. via Ajax). Therefore, we need to extend this a little bit:

function run() {
    // do something
}

// in case the document is already rendered
if (document.readyState!='loading') run();
// modern browsers
else if (document.addEventListener) 
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', run);
// IE <= 8
else document.attachEvent('onreadystatechange', function(){
    if (document.readyState=='complete') run();
});

This covers basically all possibilities and is a viable replacement for the jQuery helper.

Try this:

function ready(callback){
    if(typeof callback === "function"){
        document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", callback);
        window.addEventListener("load", callback);
    }else{
        throw new Error("Sorry, I can not run this!");
    }
}
ready(function(){
    console.log("It worked!");
});

(function(f){
  if(document.readyState != "loading") f();
  else document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", f);
})(function(){
  console.log("The Document is ready");
});

Poor man's solution:

var checkLoad = function() {   
    document.readyState !== "complete" ? setTimeout(checkLoad, 11) : alert("loaded!");   
};  

checkLoad();  

View Fiddle

Added this one, a bit better I guess, own scope, and non recursive

(function(){
    var tId = setInterval(function() {
        if (document.readyState == "complete") onComplete()
    }, 11);
    function onComplete(){
        clearInterval(tId);    
        alert("loaded!");    
    };
})()

View Fiddle

I simply use:

setTimeout(function(){
    //reference/manipulate DOM here
});

And unlike document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded" //etc as in the very top answer, it works as far back as IE9 -- http://caniuse.com/#search=DOMContentLoaded only indicates as recently as IE11.

Interestingly I stumbled upon this setTimeout solution in 2009: Is checking for the readiness of the DOM overkill?, which probably could have been worded slightly better, as I meant "is it overkill to use various frameworks' more complicated approaches to check for the readiness of the DOM".

My best explanation for why this technique works is that, when the script with such a setTimeout has been reached, the DOM is in the middle of being parsed, so execution of the code within the setTimeout gets deferred until that operation is finished.

I use this:

document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) { 
    //Do work
});

Note: This probably only works with newer browsers, especially these: http://caniuse.com/#feat=domcontentloaded

Here's what I use, it's fast and covers all bases I think; works for everything except IE<9.

(() => { function fn() {
    // "On document ready" commands:
    console.log(document.readyState);
};  
  if (document.readyState != 'loading') {fn()}
  else {document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', fn)}
})();

This seems to catch all cases:

• fires immediately if the DOM is already ready (if the DOM is not "loading", but either "interactive" or "complete")
• if the DOM is still loading, it sets up an event listener for when the DOM is available (interactive).

The DOMContentLoaded event is available in IE9 and everything else, so I personally think it's OK to use this. Rewrite the arrow function declaration to a regular anonymous function if you're not transpiling your code from ES2015 to ES5.

If you want to wait until all assets are loaded, all images displayed etc then use window.onload instead.

Just add this to the bottom of your HTML page...

<script>
    Your_Function();
</script>

Because, HTML documents are parsed by top-bottom.

It's always good to use JavaScript equivalents as compared to jQuery. One reason is one fewer library to depend on and they are much faster than the jQuery equivalents.

One fantastic reference for jQuery equivalents is http://youmightnotneedjquery.com/.

As far as your question is concerned, I took the below code from the above link :) Only caveat is it only works with Internet Explorer 9 and later.

function ready(fn) {
    if (document.readyState != 'loading') {
        fn();
    }
    else {
        document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', fn);
    }
}

Edit of the edit of @duskwuff to support Internet Explorer 8 too. The difference is a new call to the function test of the regex and the setTimeout with an anonymous function.

Also, I set the timeout to 99.

function ready(f){/in/.test(document.readyState)?setTimeout(function(){ready(f);},99):f();}

This was a good https://stackoverflow.com/a/11810957/185565 poor man's solution. One comment considered a counter to bail out in case of emergency. This is my modification.

function doTheMagic(counter) {
  alert("It worked on " + counter);
}

// wait for document ready then call handler function
var checkLoad = function(counter) {
  counter++;
  if (document.readyState != "complete" && counter<1000) {
    var fn = function() { checkLoad(counter); };
    setTimeout(fn,10);
  } else doTheMagic(counter);
};
checkLoad(0);

If you don't have to support very old browsers, here is a way to do it even when your external script is loaded with async attribute:

HTMLDocument.prototype.ready = new Promise(function(resolve) {
   if(document.readyState != "loading")
      resolve();
   else
      document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function() {
         resolve();
      });
});

document.ready.then(function() {
   console.log("document.ready");
});

Place your <script>/*JavaScript code*/</script> right before the closing </body> tag.

Admittedly, this might not suit everyone's purposes since it requires changing the HTML file rather than just doing something in the JavaScript file a la document.ready, but still...

Most vanilla JS Ready functions do NOT consider the scenario where the DOMContentLoaded handler is set after the document is already loaded - Which means the function will never run. This can happen if you look for DOMContentLoaded within an async external script (<script async src="file.js"></script>).

The code below checks for DOMContentLoaded only if the document's readyState isn't already interactive or complete.

var DOMReady = function(callback) {
  document.readyState === "interactive" || document.readyState === "complete" ? callback() : document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", callback());
};
DOMReady(function() {
  //DOM ready!
});

If you want to support IE aswell:

var DOMReady = function(callback) {
    if (document.readyState === "interactive" || document.readyState === "complete") {
        callback();
    } else if (document.addEventListener) {
        document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', callback());
    } else if (document.attachEvent) {
        document.attachEvent('onreadystatechange', function() {
            if (document.readyState != 'loading') {
                callback();
            }
        });
    }
};

DOMReady(function() {
  // DOM ready!
});

This question was asked quite a long time ago. For anyone just seeing this question, there is now a site called "you might not need jquery" which breaks down - by level of IE support required - all the functionality of jquery and provides some alternative, smaller libraries.

IE8 document ready script according to you might not need jquery

function ready(fn) {
    if (document.readyState != 'loading')
        fn();
    else if (document.addEventListener)
        document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', fn);
    else
        document.attachEvent('onreadystatechange', function() {
            if (document.readyState != 'loading')
                fn();
        });
}

If you are loading jQuery near the bottom of BODY, but are having trouble with code that writes out jQuery(<func>) or jQuery(document).ready(<func>), check out jqShim on Github.

Rather than recreate its own document ready function, it simply holds onto the functions until jQuery is available then proceeds with jQuery as expected. The point of moving jQuery to the bottom of body is to speed up page load, and you can still accomplish it by inlining the jqShim.min.js in the head of your template.

I ended up writing this code to make moving all the scripts in WordPress to the footer, and just this shim code now sits directly in the header.

Nowadays you should use modules. Put your code into the default function of a module and import the function into a script element.

client.js:

export default function ()
{
  alert ("test");
}

index.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>test</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <script type="module">
      import main from './client.js';
      main ();
    </script>
  </body>
</html>

I was recently using this for a mobile site. This is John Resig's simplified version from "Pro JavaScript Techniques". It depends on addEvent.

var ready = ( function () {
  function ready( f ) {
    if( ready.done ) return f();

    if( ready.timer ) {
      ready.ready.push(f);
    } else {
      addEvent( window, "load", isDOMReady );
      ready.ready = [ f ];
      ready.timer = setInterval(isDOMReady, 13);
    }
  };

  function isDOMReady() {
    if( ready.done ) return false;

    if( document && document.getElementsByTagName && document.getElementById && document.body ) {
      clearInterval( ready.timer );
      ready.timer = null;
      for( var i = 0; i < ready.ready.length; i++ ) {
        ready.ready[i]();
      }
      ready.ready = null;
      ready.done = true;
    }
  }

  return ready;
})();

In short, instead of the $(document).ready() used in jQuery, we can use a JavaScript method:

<script>
    document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function_name, false);
    function function_name(){
        statements;
    }
</script>

Thus, when the page is ready i.e. DOMContentLoaded only then the function function_name() will be invoked.

It is worth looking in Rock Solid addEvent() and http://www.braksator.com/how-to-make-your-own-jquery.

Here is the code in case the site goes down

function addEvent(obj, type, fn) {
    if (obj.addEventListener) {
        obj.addEventListener(type, fn, false);
        EventCache.add(obj, type, fn);
    }
    else if (obj.attachEvent) {
        obj["e"+type+fn] = fn;
        obj[type+fn] = function() { obj["e"+type+fn]( window.event ); }
        obj.attachEvent( "on"+type, obj[type+fn] );
        EventCache.add(obj, type, fn);
    }
    else {
        obj["on"+type] = obj["e"+type+fn];
    }
}

var EventCache = function(){
    var listEvents = [];
    return {
        listEvents : listEvents,
        add : function(node, sEventName, fHandler){
            listEvents.push(arguments);
        },
        flush : function(){
            var i, item;
            for(i = listEvents.length - 1; i >= 0; i = i - 1){
                item = listEvents[i];
                if(item[0].removeEventListener){
                    item[0].removeEventListener(item[1], item[2], item[3]);
                };
                if(item[1].substring(0, 2) != "on"){
                    item[1] = "on" + item[1];
                };
                if(item[0].detachEvent){
                    item[0].detachEvent(item[1], item[2]);
                };
                item[0][item[1]] = null;
            };
        }
    };
}();

// Usage
addEvent(window, 'unload', EventCache.flush);
addEvent(window, 'load', function(){alert("I'm ready");});

Comparison

Here (in below snippet) is comparison of chosen available browser "built-in" methods and their execution sequence. Remarks

• the document.onload (X) is not supported by any modern browser (event is never fired)
• if you use <body onload="bodyOnLoad()"> (F) and at the same time window.onload (E) then only first one will be executed (because it override second one)
• event handler given in <body onload="..."> (F) is wrapped by additional onload function
• document.onreadystatechange (D) not override document .addEventListener('readystatechange'...) (C) probably cecasue onXYZevent-like methods are independent than addEventListener queues (which allows add multiple listeners). Probably nothing happens between execution this two handlers.
• all scripts write their timestamp in console - but scripts which also have access to div write their timestamps also in body (click "Full Page" link after script execution to see it).
• solutions readystatechange (C,D) are executed multiple times by browser but for different document states:
• loading - the document is loading (no fired in snippet)
• interactive - the document is parsed, fired before DOMContentLoaded
• complete - the document and resources are loaded, fired before body/window onload

<html>

<head>
  <script>
    // solution A
    console.log(`[timestamp: ${Date.now()}] A: Head script`) ;
    
    // solution B
    document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => {
      print(`[timestamp: ${Date.now()}] B: DOMContentLoaded`);
    });

    // solution C
    document.addEventListener('readystatechange', () => {
      print(`[timestamp: ${Date.now()}] C: ReadyState: ${document.readyState}`);
    });
   
    // solution D
    document.onreadystatechange = s=> {print(`[timestamp: ${Date.now()}] D: document.onreadystatechange ReadyState: ${document.readyState}`)};
    
    // solution E (never executed)
    window.onload = () => {
      print(`E: <body onload="..."> override this handler`);
    };

    // solution F
    function bodyOnLoad() {
      print(`[timestamp: ${Date.now()}] F: <body onload='...'>`);      
      infoAboutOnLoad(); // additional info
    }
    
    // solution X
    document.onload = () => {print(`document.onload is never fired`)};



    // HELPERS

    function print(txt) { 
      console.log(txt);
      if(mydiv) mydiv.innerHTML += txt.replace('<','&lt;').replace('>','&gt;') + '<br>';
    }
    
    function infoAboutOnLoad() {
      console.log("window.onload (after  override):", (''+document.body.onload).replace(/\s+/g,' '));
      console.log(`body.onload==window.onload --> ${document.body.onload==window.onload}`);
    }
            
    console.log("window.onload (before override):", (''+document.body.onload).replace(/\s+/g,' '));

  </script>
</head>

<body onload="bodyOnLoad()">
  <div id="mydiv"></div>

  <!-- this script must te at the bottom of <body> -->
  <script>
    // solution G
    print(`[timestamp: ${Date.now()}] G: <body> bottom script`);
  </script>
</body>

</html>

The setTimeout/setInterval solutions presented here will only work in specific circumstances.

The problem shows up especially in older Internet Explorer versions up to 8.

The variables affecting the success of these setTimeout/setInterval solutions are:

1) dynamic or static HTML
2) cached or non cached requests
3) size of the complete HTML document
4) chunked or non chunked transfer encoding

the original (native Javascript) code solving this specific issue is here:

https://github.com/dperini/ContentLoaded
http://javascript.nwbox.com/ContentLoaded (test)

this is the code from which the jQuery team have built their implementation.

It is year 2020 and <script> tag has defer attribute.

for example:

<script src="demo_defer.js" defer></script>

it specifies that the script is executed when the page has finished parsing.

https://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_script_defer.asp

For IE9+:

function ready(fn) {
  if (document.readyState != 'loading'){
    fn();
  } else {
    document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', fn);
  }
}

If you want to support Internet Explorer 7+ (no quirks, compatibility and other pain), last Chrome, last Safari, last Firefox and no iframes - this will be enough:

is_loaded = false
callbacks = []

loaded = ->
  is_loaded = true
  for i in [0...callbacks.length]
    callbacks[i].call document
  callbacks = []

content_loaded = ->
  document.removeEventListener "DOMContentLoaded", content_loaded, true
  loaded()

state_changed = ->
  if document.readyState is "complete"
    document.detachEvent "onreadystatechange", state_changed
    loaded()

if !!document.addEventListener
  document.addEventListener "DOMContentLoaded", content_loaded, true
else
  document.attachEvent "onreadystatechange", state_changed

dom_ready = (callback) ->
  if is_loaded
    callback.call document
  else
    callbacks.push callback

How about this solution?

// other onload attached earlier
window.onload=function() {
   alert('test');
};

tmpPreviousFunction=window.onload ? window.onload : null;

// our onload function
window.onload=function() {
   alert('another message');

   // execute previous one
   if (tmpPreviousFunction) tmpPreviousFunction();
};