What's the point of “[removed]” in code (not URLs)? [duplicate]

Answer 1

The "javascript:" is a label. It's supposed to be used to identify a loop so that you could then use "break javascript;" to break out of it, but is being misused here. It's harmless, but probably not a good idea to add a label to a statement that isn't a loop.

Answer 2

It is syntactically valid (it is a label) but useless. It is cargo culting caused by people copy/pasting code without understanding it.

Answer 3

I agree about the uselessness of it as a label, but in some cases it is still useful. For example, you need to execute a short snippet from the address bar or write a bookmarklet. But in this case, javascript: will be more like a pseudo-protocol scheme.

Answer 4

JavaScript can also be used out of web pages in an HTML Application (HTA). In an HTA, it is possible to use a mix of VBScript and JavaScript. When you use scripting in your application, like in the following, the scripting language is automatically set to VBScript.

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE='VBScript'> MsgBox 'Hi!'</SCRIPT>

So an element with a JavaScript onclick event, like in the following, will result in an error.

<a id="myLink" href="#" onclick="MyFunction();return false;">Click me!</a>

You can solve this by explicitly set the language to JavaScript by

<a id="myLink" href="#" onclick="javascript:alert('Javascript Executed!');return false;">Click me for Javascript!</a>

Or in VBScript by

<a id="myLink" href="#" onclick='vbscript:msgbox "VBScript Executed!"'>Click me for VBScript!</a>

Note: I am aware this is a corner case, but it is an actual usage of the javascript: label (can we still call it a label in this context?) that I encountered while creating mixed language HTAs.