Overview

Handlebars.js

Stacks8.3K

Followers3.2K

Votes308

Smarty

Stacks3.2K

Followers71

Votes0

Handlebars.js vs Smarty: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this Markdown code, we will discuss the key differences between Handlebars.js and Smarty. Both are popular template engines used in web development. Handlebars.js is a templating language used for creating dynamic HTML templates, while Smarty is a template engine for PHP.

Usage: Handlebars.js is primarily used in JavaScript environments, such as Node.js or any client-side JavaScript application. In contrast, Smarty is specifically designed for use with PHP, making it tightly integrated with the language and its syntax.
Syntax: Handlebars.js uses a simple and intuitive syntax that is easy to learn and understand. It uses double curly braces {{}} to denote expressions and helpers. On the other hand, Smarty has its own syntax that is more similar to traditional PHP syntax with special tags and variables enclosed in curly braces {}.
Features: Handlebars.js offers a minimalistic approach with limited features. It focuses on providing a lightweight and efficient way to handle templates. In contrast, Smarty provides a wide range of features, including caching, template inheritance, plugins, and more. It is more feature-rich and adaptable to complex projects.
Learning Curve: Handlebars.js has a relatively low learning curve due to its simple syntax and fewer features. It is easy to get started with and understand. Smarty, on the other hand, has a steeper learning curve as it requires familiarity with PHP syntax and its own template tags.
Community Support: Handlebars.js has a large and active community of developers, providing extensive documentation, tutorials, and forums for support. It is widely adopted and has a wealth of resources available. Smarty also has a supportive community, but it is relatively smaller compared to Handlebars.js.
Popularity: Handlebars.js is widely used in the JavaScript and web development community, being included in popular frameworks like Ember.js and Backbone.js. It is known for its simplicity and compatibility across various frameworks and environments. Smarty, on the other hand, is more focused on PHP development and is not as widely used or popular in the broader web development ecosystem.

In Summary, Handlebars.js and Smarty differ in usage, syntax, features, learning curve, community support, and popularity.

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Advice on Handlebars.js, Smarty

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	Smarty
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.	Facilitating the separation of presentation (HTML/CSS) from application logic. This implies that PHP code is application logic, and is separated from the presentation
Statistics
Stacks 8.3K	Stacks 3.2K
Followers 3.2K	Followers 71
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, Smarty?

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.