Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

Smarty

3K
71
+ 1
0
Twig

371
154
+ 1
8
Add tool

Smarty vs Twig: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will explore and discuss the key differences between Smarty and Twig, two popular template engines used in web development.

  1. Template Syntax: Smarty uses a unique template syntax that resembles PHP, making it easier for PHP developers to understand and work with. On the other hand, Twig uses a more expressive and concise syntax that is inspired by Python and Ruby, making it cleaner and more readable.

  2. Extensibility and Modularity: Smarty provides a wide range of built-in functions and plugins that can be easily integrated into templates. It offers a large library of ready-to-use modules and a well-established ecosystem. In contrast, Twig takes a more minimalistic approach and provides a limited set of features out of the box. However, it offers extensive extensibility through filters, tags, and extensions, allowing developers to add custom functionalities as needed.

  3. Security Features: Smarty has limited built-in security features, and developers need to be cautious while handling user input and preventing vulnerabilities like cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. Twig, on the other hand, has a stronger focus on security and provides a number of built-in security features like auto-escaping of user input by default, making it more secure by design.

  4. Templating Language Features: Smarty offers a range of advanced templating features like template inheritance, block overriding, and template functions. It has a robust caching mechanism that improves performance by reducing database and server load. Twig also provides similar features like template inheritance and block overriding but has more advanced features like easy internationalization (i18n) support and a powerful sandboxing mechanism for controlling what is allowed to be executed in templates.

  5. Debugging and Error Handling: Smarty has a built-in debugging console that provides detailed information about variable values, template execution flow, and errors. It also offers error handling features like logging and gracefully failing on errors. Twig, on the other hand, provides a more powerful and flexible debugging and error handling system. It allows developers to create custom error pages, log error information, and even extend the default error handling mechanism.

  6. Learning Curve and Community Support: Smarty has been around for a longer time and has a larger user base, which means there are more tutorials, documentation, and community support available. This can be advantageous for beginners and developers who prefer a more traditional approach. Twig, being a more modern and developer-friendly template engine, has gained significant popularity in recent years and has a growing community. It has excellent documentation and active community support available.

In Summary, Smarty and Twig are both powerful template engines with their own unique set of features and advantages. Smarty offers a more traditional PHP-like syntax and a wide range of built-in functionalities, while Twig adopts a cleaner and more expressive syntax and provides advanced security features. The choice between the two depends on the specific requirements of the project and the preferences of the developers involved.

Get Advice from developers at your company using StackShare Enterprise. Sign up for StackShare Enterprise.
Learn More
Pros of Smarty
Pros of Twig
    Be the first to leave a pro
    • 2
      For both nodejs and php
    • 2
      Gulp
    • 2
      Native html, xml, txt etc
    • 2
      Front to back with no efforts

    Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

    What is Smarty?

    Facilitating the separation of presentation (HTML/CSS) from application logic. This implies that PHP code is application logic, and is separated from the presentation

    What is Twig?

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

    Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

    What companies use Smarty?
    What companies use Twig?
    See which teams inside your own company are using Smarty or Twig.
    Sign up for StackShare EnterpriseLearn More

    Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions

    What tools integrate with Smarty?
    What tools integrate with Twig?
      No integrations found
      What are some alternatives to Smarty and Twig?
      TypeScript
      TypeScript is a language for application-scale JavaScript development. It's a typed superset of JavaScript that compiles to plain JavaScript.
      Handlebars.js
      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.
      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.
      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.
      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.
      See all alternatives