What is SimpleERB?
simpleERB is a lightweight and fast templating library for Ruby that allows embedding of Ruby code in HTML documents for dynamic web page generation. It is an open-source alternative to Ruby's built-in ERB templating system focusing on simplicity and ease of use.
While ERB offers more advanced features like caching and preprocessing, simpleERB provides just the core templating functionality for basic needs. This makes it faster, less resource-intensive, and easier to integrate into Ruby web apps, especially simple ones.
To use simpleERB, developers just need to install the gem, require it, and then they can start embedding Ruby code within ERB tags in an HTML document. The HTML with embedded Ruby is then rendered as a standard HTML string output.
Some key features of simpleERB include:
- Lightweight and fast without unnecessary complexity
- Support for basic ERB tags like <% %> for code execution and <%= %> for output
- Escape by default for security against XSS attacks
- Easy integration with popular Ruby web frameworks like Sinatra, Hanami, and Roda
- Template caching for improved performance
- Support for layouts/templates for better code reuse
- Active development and maintenance
Overall, simpleERB is a great option for anyone looking for a straightforward, no-frills embedded Ruby templating solution. Its simple API and lightweight nature make it easy to add dynamic templating capacity to Ruby web apps without bloat.