In my index.shtml I have

<object data="icons/svg-sprite.svg" type="image/svg+xml" width="0" height="0" style="display: none;"></object>

In my svg-sprite.svg I have

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<svg version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xml:space="preserve" focusable="false">
<defs>
        <symbol id="html_element_group_core" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xml:space="preserve" focusable="false" x="0px" y="0px" viewBox="0 0 24 24" enable-background="new 0 0 24 24">
        <path d="M12,0C5.369,0,0,5.369,0,12s5.369,12,12,12s12-5.369,12-12S18.631,0,12,0zM12,21.6c-5.298,0-9.6-4.302-9.6-9.6S6.702,2.4,12,2.4s9.6,4.302,9.6,9.6S17.298,21.6,12,21.6zM12,7.2c-2.654,0-4.8,2.146-4.8,4.8s2.146,4.8,4.8,4.8s4.8-2.146,4.8-4.8S14.654,7.2,12,7.2z" />
    </symbol>
    </defs>

Again in my index.shtml I have

    <svg class="group_icon svg_icon">
        <use xlink:href="icons/svg-sprite.svg#html_element_group_core"></use>
    </svg>

Notice the use is using icons/svg-sprite.svg#html_element_group_core directly refreing the svg-sprite.svg file.

The issue is even if I remove object it still works. Why? If so why do I need the object at all? Is it because of icons/svg-sprite.svg#html_element_group_core