Overview

Handlebars.js

Stacks8.3K

Followers3.2K

Votes308

Jade Language

Stacks7

Followers36

Votes0

Handlebars.js vs Jade Language: What are the differences?

Introduction

Handlebars.js and Jade Language are both templating languages often used in web development to dynamically render HTML pages based on data. While they serve a similar purpose, they differ in various aspects. The following are key differences between Handlebars.js and Jade Language.

Syntax: Handlebars.js uses a syntax that closely resembles HTML, using curly braces and double curly braces to indicate expressions and variables, respectively. On the other hand, Jade Language has a more concise and indented syntax that uses significant whitespace and mixins for writing HTML. The syntax of Jade Language may take some time to get used to, especially for developers who are more familiar with traditional HTML syntax used in Handlebars.js.
HTML Output: Handlebars.js produces HTML output that closely matches the structure of the templates, allowing for easier debugging and inspection of the rendered HTML. It maintains a clear separation between HTML and JavaScript, making it easier to read and understand the code. Jade Language, on the other hand, offers a more compact representation of HTML, reducing the number of characters needed and making the templates more concise. However, this can also make the templates harder to read and understand, especially for larger and more complex projects.
Error Reporting: Handlebars.js provides more detailed error reporting, making it easier to identify and debug issues in the templates. It provides line numbers and error messages that highlight the specific problem in the template. Jade Language, on the other hand, sometimes provides less informative error messages, which can make it harder to troubleshoot and fix issues, especially for developers who are new to the language.
Extensibility: Handlebars.js offers a powerful helper system that allows developers to extend the functionality of the templating engine by creating custom helpers. These helpers can be used to perform complex logic and calculations within the templates. Jade Language, on the other hand, does not have a built-in helper system and requires the use of mixins or separate JavaScript functions to perform similar tasks. This can make the code more complex and less intuitive in certain scenarios.
Whitespace Control: Handlebars.js does not have built-in support for controlling whitespace. Whitespace in the templates is preserved and rendered as it is, which can sometimes result in unwanted spacing and indentation in the output HTML. Jade Language, on the other hand, provides built-in whitespace control, allowing developers to control the indentation and spacing in the rendered HTML. This can make the templates more readable and consistent in terms of spacing and indentation.
Template Inheritance: Handlebars.js does not have built-in support for template inheritance. Each template is treated as a standalone unit and cannot inherit or extend from other templates. Jade Language, on the other hand, provides a powerful template inheritance system that allows developers to create reusable layouts and extend them with individual templates. This can greatly improve code reusability and maintainability, especially for larger projects with multiple pages and layouts.

In summary, Handlebars.js and Jade Language differ in their syntax, HTML output, error reporting, extensibility, whitespace control, and template inheritance. These differences make each language suitable for different use cases and preferences of developers.

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Advice on Handlebars.js, Jade Language

Asad

Software Engineer at Lisec Automation

Jun 15, 2020

Needs adviceon

.NET

Handlebars.js

@All: I am searching for the best template engine for .NET. I started looking into several template engines, including the Dotliquid, Handlebars.js, Scriban, and Razorlight. I found handlebar a bit difficult to use when using the loops and condition because you need to register for helper first. DotLiquid and Scriban were easy to use and in Razorlight I did not find the example for loops.

Can you please suggest which template engine is best suited for the use of conditional/list and looping and why? Or if anybody could provide me a resource or link where I can compare which is best?

Thanks In Advance

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Comments

Detailed Comparison

Handlebars.js	Jade Language
Handlebars.js is an extension to the Mustache templating language created by Chris Wanstrath. Handlebars.js and Mustache are both logicless templating languages that keep the view and the code separated like we all know they should be.	It is a templating engine, primarily used for server-side templating in NodeJS. It allows you to code without the need of tags making coding quicker and cleaner.
Statistics
Stacks 8.3K	Stacks 7
Followers 3.2K	Followers 36
Votes 308	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 106 Simple 76 Great templating language 50 Open source 36 Logicless 20 Integrates well into any codebase	No community feedback yet
Integrations
Mustache	No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Handlebars.js, Jade Language?

TypeScript

TypeScript is a language for application-scale JavaScript development. It's a typed superset of JavaScript that compiles to plain JavaScript.

Pug

This project was formerly known as "Jade." Pug is a high performance template engine heavily influenced by Haml and implemented with JavaScript for Node.js and browsers.

Mustache

Mustache is a logic-less template syntax. It can be used for HTML, config files, source code - anything. It works by expanding tags in a template using values provided in a hash or object. We call it "logic-less" because there are no if statements, else clauses, or for loops. Instead there are only tags. Some tags are replaced with a value, some nothing, and others a series of values.

Slim Lang

Slim is a template language whose goal is to reduce the view syntax to the essential parts without becoming cryptic. It started as an exercise to see how much could be removed from a standard html template (<, >, closing tags, etc...). As more people took an interest in Slim, the functionality grew and so did the flexibility of the syntax.

RactiveJS

Ractive was originally created at theguardian.com to produce news applications. Ractive takes your Mustache templates and transforms them into a lightweight representation of the DOM – then when your data changes, it intelligently updates the real DOM.

EJS

It is a simple templating language that lets you generate HTML markup with plain JavaScript. No religiousness about how to organize things. No reinvention of iteration and control-flow. It's just plain JavaScript.

Jinja

It is a full featured template engine for Python. It has full unicode support, an optional integrated sandboxed execution environment, widely used and BSD licensed.

Twig

It is a modern template engine for PHP. It is flexible, fast, and secure. Its syntax originates from Jinja and Django templates.

Nunjucks

Rich Powerful language with block inheritance, autoescaping, macros, asynchronous control, and more. Heavily inspired by jinja2. It supports all modern browsers.

Hogan.js

Hogan.js is a 3.4k JS templating engine developed at Twitter. Use it as a part of your asset packager to compile templates ahead of time or include it in your browser to handle dynamic templates.