YSlow: Avoid empty src or href

You may expect a browser to do nothing when it encounters an empty image src. However, it is not the case in most browsers. IE makes a request to the directory in which the page is located; Safari, Chrome, Firefox 3 and earlier make a request to the actual page itself. This behavior could possibly corrupt user data, waste server computing cycles generating a page that will never be viewed, and in the worst case, cripple your servers by sending a large amount of unexpected traffic.

YSlow recommends:

Image with empty string src attribute occurs more than one will expect. It appears in two form:

Straight HTML
```
    <img src="">
```

JavaScript

    var img = new Image();
    img.src = "";

Both forms cause the same effect: browser makes another request to your server.

Internet Explorer makes a request to the directory in which the page is located.
Safari and Chrome make a request to the actual page itself.
Firefox 3 and earlier versions behave the same as Safari and Chrome, but version 3.5 addressed this issue (bug 444931) and no longer sends a request.
Opera does not do anything when an empty image src is encountered.

Have an idea for this recommendation?

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