wp_enqueue_script causes page to vanish

Question

The goal- include my-script.js (dependant on jquery) in my WP theme.

The problem- When I use this code,(in the head element of the header template file) my entire page goes blank when loaded:

<?php wp_enqueue_script( 'jquery' ); ?>

<?php wp_enqueue_script(
      'my-script',
     "<?php echo get_template_directory_uri() . "/my-script.js"?>",
    array('jquery'),
    '1.0.0'
);
?>

Have commented out all of my javascript except for an alert, and the javascript works fine on non-WP webpage. So the problem is not there.

I have tried putting the code in functions.php, wrapping the enqueue scripts in a function triggered by init, a la source 1 and other sources,

that approach failed to load the script at all.

More confusingly, according to the codex here, the usual approach of calling the script as I would in an HTML document is fine. And this approach, (skipping wp_enqueue_script), does load my-script.js just fine.

Do I need to use the wp_enqueue_script to include javascript files in my theme, and if so, What am I doing wrong that causes the whole page to disappear on load?

First-time poster, thanks for your patience!

Answer 1

You don't need to enqueue jquery if it's already being referenced in my 'my-script'. Also you're running php within php, so you can change this:

"<?php echo get_template_directory_uri() . "/my-script.js"?>",

to

get_template_directory_uri() . "/my-script.js",