Re: Template engines

At 10:00 PM -0500 11/8/10, David McGlone wrote:

On Mon, 2010-11-08 at 23:36 +0100, knl@bitflop.com wrote: IMHO - If you have to jump in and out of HTML and template syntax you

might as well jump in and out of HTML and PHP.

There is truth to this, but for me, its helping me learn in a much clearer way. I can't explain how or why, but it make me feel like everything is neat and tidy and where it should be. Where PHP and HTML mixed and mingled gives me the feeling that everything is a disaster. -- Blessings, David M.

It can be a disaster, but that's your choice -- and that's the point. You can dig as deep a hole as you like, or make it simple for yourself. I don't use template engines. I simply place php echo()s where I need them while maintaining a strict division between content and presentation using "best practices" between html and css. Additionally, I believe that one also has to consider how JavaScript fits into the needs of the application and thus adherence to progressive enhancement is also a must. Templates and DOM operations can become very involved and problematic. In all, you must consider content, presentation, function, and data. Granted those boundaries become blurred when viewing both client and server side operations, but I don't find any template engines that make it any easier in design and implementation. While a cursory review of smarty (et al) may appear to solve minor problems, the more involved an application becomes, the more I find templates don't fit and are often more trouble than they are worth. YMMV. Cheers, tedd -- ------- http://sperling.com/