fab.template.js

// this is an example of what the first pass at native (fab) templates will look like:

with ( require( "fab" ) ) fab

  ( listen, 0xFAB )

  ( /\// )

    ( /1/ )
      ( "This is a template with no variables: a unary app" )

    ( /2/ )
      ( "This is a template with {{1}} variable: a binary app." )
        ( "one" )

    ( /3/ )
      ( "This is a template with {{1}} variables: a {{2}} app." )
        ( "two" )
        ( "ternary" )

    ( /4/ )
      ( "You can even {{1}} them!" )
        ( "{{1}} and {{2}}" )
          ( "mix" )
          ( "match" )

    ( "Any feedback appreciated: http://twitter.com/{{1}}" )
      ( "jedschmidt" )

  ( 404 );

why the with?

the (fab) function acts as a namespace for all built-in apps, and the with just makes them more accessible. only useful for fab.listen in this case, tho.

Yeah... it seems like asking for trouble. It'd be better to do something like this: http://gist.github.com/382936

With is like a disgruntled employee that makes everyone else worse at their jobs.

yeah, since in this case it's only exposed at define-time and not run-time, i'm okay with it. once you start inlining functions tho, all bets are off.

The issue is that if you have functions with variables in that block, you'll find that they significantly slow down. with(){} even makes it slower to read local variables. It's not as deadly as eval, but twice as rowdy.

that's my point. if you have any functions in there, i would stop using with entirely.

but i think it's fine here, and actually think that with is a good thing; if it encourages you to keep your functions separately, and therefore more reusable, all the better.

(i'm anti-with otherwise, for sure.)

maybe i should make a t-shirt:

i'm with (isaacs)

I don't think that making functions slow will be enough to convince people not to use it. They'll just decide that (fab) is slow, and whine about it.

That shirt idea is AWESOME.

it's possible, but the good news is that like most overly-indented code, writing inline functions in (fab) gets awkward really fast. hopefully that'll be enough of a deterrent.

with ( isaacs ) i.am(); is probably better tho.

hmm...

Wouldn't that shirt just say that I'm with myself?

Which I guess is true...

This looks like BS to me. BuildSugar that is. My crazy template experiment.
I'm still not exactly sure if this code style is horrifying or fabulous.

Code: https://gist.github.com/278016/5f3ad4785929905871c4d87826c32bd3f8cff064#file_build_sugar.usage.js
Demo: http://www.jsfiddle.net/c3nxS/1/

What if you want a template with more than 2 variables?

the template app actually creates an n-ary app, where n = the highest variable number + 1.

I'm with (isaacs) too: No with please!