Handlebars

Handlebars is a popular templating engine used primarily in web development for generating dynamic HTML content.

It allows you to create templates with placeholders that can be dynamically replaced with data at runtime.

The syntax is clean and straightforward, making it a powerful tool for rendering dynamic content in both client-side and server-side applications.

Key Features

1. Simple Syntax: Handlebars uses a minimalistic syntax that is easy to learn and understand. It allows you to create templates with placeholders and logic for conditional rendering and iteration.
2. Logic-less Templates: Handlebars encourages keeping logic out of the templates. This results in cleaner templates that are easier to maintain.
3. Helpers: You can define custom helpers to add functionality to your templates. Helpers are functions that can be used to perform operations or transformations on the data.
4. Partials: Handlebars supports partials, which are reusable templates that can be included in other templates. This promotes modularity and reuse.
5. Extensibility: You can extend Handlebars with custom helpers and functions to fit your specific needs.

Basic Syntax

1. Expressions

Handlebars expressions are enclosed in double curly braces ({{ }}). For example:

<h1>{{title}}</h1>
<p>{{body}}</p>

In this example, {{title}} and {{body}} will be replaced with values from the data context.

2. Helpers

Helpers are functions that you can use in your templates. You can use built-in helpers or define your own.

Built-in Helper Example:

<p>{{#if isActive}}Active{{else}}Inactive{{/if}}</p>

Custom Helper Example:

Handlebars.registerHelper('uppercase', function(str) {
    return str.toUpperCase();
});

And in the template:

<p>{{uppercase name}}</p>

3. Partials

Partials are reusable templates. You define them separately and include them in other templates.

Defining a Partial:

{{!-- views/partials/footer.hbs --}}
<footer>
  <p>&copy; {{year}} My Company</p>
</footer>

Using a Partial:

{{> footer}}

4. Iterating

Handlebars supports iteration with the {{#each}} block helper.

<ul>
  {{#each items}}
    <li>{{this}}</li>
 {{/each}}
</ul>