Overview

Handlebars.js

Stacks8.3K

Followers3.2K

Votes308

Liquid

Stacks261

Followers126

Votes0

GitHub Stars11.5K

Forks1.5K

Handlebars.js vs Liquid: What are the differences?

Introduction: In web development, Handlebars.js and Liquid are both popular templating languages that allow for dynamic content rendering. While they share some similarities, there are key differences between the two that make them unique and suitable for specific purposes. This article aims to highlight the major differences between Handlebars.js and Liquid.

1. Handlebars.js: Flexibility in templating Handlebars.js is a templating language that focuses on providing flexibility in creating templates. It allows for the execution of JavaScript code within templates, enabling developers to perform complex operations and calculations easily. Handlebars.js supports the use of helpers, which are custom functions that can be utilized within the templates to manipulate data or extend functionality.

2. Liquid: Easier and safer to use Liquid, on the other hand, prioritizes simplicity and safety. It restricts JavaScript execution within templates, eliminating potential security risks. Liquid templates also have a cleaner syntax, making it easier for non-technical users to create and manage templates. It provides a robust set of built-in filters and tags, enabling developers and content creators to manipulate data and control the output effectively.

3. Handlebars.js: Greater control over rendering logic Handlebars.js provides more control over the rendering logic. It supports conditional statements, loops, and partials, allowing developers to create dynamic templates that adapt to different scenarios. With Handlebars.js, developers have the flexibility to define custom logic and control the flow of the template rendering process.

4. Liquid: Enhanced for e-commerce and content management systems Liquid is widely used in e-commerce platforms and content management systems (CMS) such as Shopify. It has specific features tailored towards these domains, including support for product collections, variables related to orders and customers, and built-in functionality for managing e-commerce and CMS-related tasks. Liquid shines when it comes to efficiently handling the unique aspects of these systems.

5. Handlebars.js: Ideal for single-page applications When it comes to single-page applications (SPAs) or heavily client-side rendered applications, Handlebars.js excels. Its flexibility, ability to execute JavaScript code, and support for helpers make it suitable for handling complex rendering requirements in SPAs. Handlebars.js provides a seamless way to integrate with client-side frameworks and libraries, enabling efficient rendering on the front-end.

6. Liquid: Extensive usage across multiple platforms Liquid's popularity and extensive usage can be attributed to its versatility across multiple platforms. It is not limited to web development and has implementations in various programming languages. This allows it to be used in different contexts, including email templating, static site generators, and more, making Liquid a preferred choice for many developers working in diverse environments.

In summary, Handlebars.js offers greater flexibility and control over templating with its support for JavaScript execution and custom helpers, making it a suitable choice for SPAs. On the other hand, Liquid prioritizes simplicity and safety, excelling in e-commerce and CMS domains, while also being widely adopted in various platforms beyond web development.

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Advice on Handlebars.js, Liquid

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	Liquid
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 an open-source template language written in Ruby. It is the backbone of Shopify themes and is used to load dynamic content on storefronts. It is safe, customer facing template language for flexible web apps.
-	Render templates directly from the database;Smarty (PHP) style template engines;Template engine which does HTML just as well as emails;Allow your users to edit the appearance of your application but don't want them to run insecure code on your server
Statistics
GitHub Stars -	GitHub Stars 11.5K
GitHub Forks -	GitHub Forks 1.5K
Stacks 8.3K	Stacks 261
Followers 3.2K	Followers 126
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	VTEX Zendesk Voog Drip Ruby Jekyll Fedora Locomotive CMS

What are some alternatives to Handlebars.js, Liquid?

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.