jed

(tl;dr DOM builders like [domo][domo] trump HTML templates on the client.)

Like all web developers, I've used a lot of template engines. Like most, I've also written a few of them, some of which even [fit in a tweet][140].

The first open-source code I ever wrote was also one of the the first template engines for node.js, [a port][node-tmpl] of the mother of all JavaScript template engines, [John Resig][jresig]'s [micro-templates][tmpl]. Of course, these days you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a template engine; one in eight packages on npm ([2,220][npm templates] of 16,226 as of 10/19) involve templates.

John's implementation has since evolved and [lives on in Underscore.js][underscore], which means it's the default choice for templating in Backbone.js. And for a while, it's all I would ever use when building a client-side app.

But I can't really see the value in client-side HTML templates anymore.

paulirish

// everyone's new favorite closure pattern:
(function(window,document,undefined){ ... })(this,this.document);

// when minified:
(function(w,d,u){ ... })(this,this.document);

// which means all uses of window/document/undefined inside the closure 
// will be single-lettered, so big gains in minification.

// it also will speed up scope chain traversal a tiny tiny little bit.