Sugared DOM: Better Than Templates

gistfile1.js

var el = ( function () {

var doc = document;

var directProperties = {
    'class': 'className',
    className: 'className',
    defaultValue: 'defaultValue',
    'for': 'htmlFor',
    html: 'innerHTML',
    text: 'textContent',
    value: 'value'
};

var booleanProperties = {
    checked: 1,
    defaultChecked: 1,
    disabled: 1,
    multiple: 1,
    selected: 1
};

var setProperty = function ( el, key, value ) {
    var prop = directProperties[ key ];
    if ( prop ) {
        el[ prop ] = ( value == null ? '' : '' + value );
    } else if ( booleanProperties[ key ] ) {
        el[ key ] = !!value;
    } else if ( value == null ) {
        el.removeAttribute( key );
    } else {
        el.setAttribute( key, '' + value );
    }
};

var appendChildren = function ( el, children ) {
    var i, l, node;
    for ( i = 0, l = children.length; i < l; i += 1 ) {
        node = children[i];
        if ( node ) {
            if ( node instanceof Array ) {
                appendChildren( el, node );
            } else {
                if ( typeof node === 'string' ) {
                    node = doc.createTextNode( node );
                }
                el.appendChild( node );
            }
        }
    }
};

var splitter = /(#|\.)/;

var create = function ( tag, props, children ) {
    if ( props instanceof Array ) {
        children = props;
        props = null;
    }
    
    var parts, name, el,
        i, j, l, node, prop;
    
    if ( splitter.test( tag ) ) {
        parts = tag.split( splitter );
        tag = parts[0];
        if ( !props ) { props = {}; }
        for ( i = 1, j = 2, l = parts.length; j < l; i += 2, j += 2 ) {
            name = parts[j];
            if ( parts[i] === '#' ) {
                props.id = name;
            } else {
                props.className = props.className ?
                    props.className + ' ' + name : name;
            }
        }
    }
    
    el = doc.createElement( tag );
    if ( props ) {
        for ( prop in props ) {
            setProperty( el, prop, props[ prop ] );
        }
    }
    if ( children ) {
        appendChildren( el, children );
    }
    return el;
};

return create;

}() );