Dust.js

Dust.js

Dust.js is a lightweight JavaScript templating library for both client-side and server-side rendering. It has a simple, easy-to-read syntax and aims to provide complete control of HTML output while being highly extensible.
templating clientside serverside

Dust.js: Lightweight JavaScript Templating Library

A lightweight JavaScript templating library for client-side and server-side rendering, providing a simple syntax and complete control of HTML output with high extensibility.

What is Dust.js?

Dust.js is an open-source JavaScript templating library designed to help developers quickly build well-structured web application templates. It was originally created at LinkedIn and later donated to the open source community.

Some key features of Dust.js include:

  • Lightweight runtime with minimal overhead
  • Clean and easy-to-read syntax
  • Support for conditional blocks, looping, partials, helpers, and more
  • Asynchronous and non-blocking rendering for improved performance
  • Works in both Node.js and browser environments
  • Compiles templates to reusable JavaScript functions
  • Extensibility through custom helpers and filters
  • Active open source community behind continued development

Dust.js makes it easy to create maintainable views that can be shared across both server and client code. It has good documentation, an approachable learning curve for basic usage, and scales well to handle complex application templating needs.

Some popular web frameworks like Geddy and Tower.js use Dust.js as their default template engine. Many developers also use it standalone or integrate it with Express.js and other Node.js web frameworks. Overall, it strikes a nice balance between feature richness and simplicity of use.

Dust.js Features

Features

  1. Template inheritance
  2. Automatic escaping for security
  3. Asynchronous rendering
  4. Streaming
  5. Client-side and server-side rendering
  6. Partial templates
  7. Conditionals and loops
  8. Helpers for formatting
  9. Extensible with custom helpers and filters

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Lightweight and fast

Secure against XSS attacks

Good documentation

Active community support

Integration with Express.js for server-side rendering

Streaming allows progressive rendering

Cons

Less flexible compared to some other templating engines

Limited adoption outside of LinkedIn where it originated

Requires learning non-standard syntax


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