Which interoperable templating framework for JavaScript and Grails/Java?

Question

I am currently researching templating frameworks that have implementations for both JavaScript and Grails/Java for an upcoming project that will render templates both within a Grails application and on the front end.

The requirements are as follows:

• implementations in both JavaScript and Grails / Java
• front-end and back-end rendering produces the same output given the same JSON data
• straightforward to author and maintain by a team of developers
• testable on both front-end and back-end
• can handle nested JSON objects without too much trouble
• XSS protection on the front-end

So far, I have investigated Mustache which has JavaScript and Java implementations, and Haml which has JavaScript and Grails implementations. (I would link the implementations, but as a new user I am only able to add 2 links.)

I would be grateful for any experience others have had with these, and any recommendations for other frameworks that may fit the above needs.

Answer 1

Did you look at Closure Templates? There's also a Grails plug-in. It meets most if not all your requirements.

Answer 2

I've used both Mustache and Haml at one point or another. If you hadn't mentioned either, I would probably have recommended Mustache as a pure templating solution. Haml is great, but it is more a replacement for authoring html (i.e. you don't write html any more, you write haml). Mustache on the other hand is all about templating

I think either one would be a fine choice. Mustache.js is mature, the java implementation is probably less so, but it has been around for a little while, so you're probably ok in that regard. I am not sure how mature the javascript or grails Haml implementations are.

I'd be leaning towards Mustache if all you're after is templating, it is very good although it takes a little while to get used to the whole {{}} syntax. But if you're attracted to Haml as a replacement for writing HTML it might tip you in that direction.