Faster DOMReady Checks with MooTools

Digging into the source code of your favorite JavaScript framework is essential to becoming a {insert framework here} rock star. Digging into other JavaScript frameworks is essential to opening your mind about JavaScript and can give you new ideas to implement improvements in your favorite framework. I was recently looking at the jQuery source code and found that jQuery checks to see if the DOM is ready every 13 milliseconds. MooTools does this same check every 50 milliseconds. Speeding up MooTools' DOMReady check, however, is as easy as updating a periodical's interval.

The MooTools JavaScript

var repeat;
if (Browser.ie){
	var temp = document.createElement('div');
	repeat = function(){
		(Function.stab(function(){
			temp.doScroll(); // Technique by Diego Perini
			return document.id(temp).inject(document.body).set('html', 'temp').dispose();
		})) ? domready() : repeat.delay(50);
	};
	repeat();
} else if (Browser.safari && Browser.version < 4){
	repeat = function(){
		(['loaded', 'complete'].contains(document.readyState)) ? domready() : repeat.delay(50);
	};
	repeat();
} else {
	document.addEvent('DOMContentLoaded', domready);
}

The above code is the important piece of the DOMReady utility file. You'll see ".delay(50)" twice in that code block; that's the number we'll update:

//....more code
repeat.delay(20);

Voila! Faster DOMReady checks!

To my knowledge, there's no science to what that number should be so don't feel as though I'm saying you should modify this number. Just wanted to let you know it was possible!