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Jinja2 VS Underscore.js

Compare Jinja2 VS Underscore.js and see what are their differences

Jinja2 logo Jinja2

Jinja2 is a template engine written in Python.

Underscore.js logo Underscore.js

Underscore is a utility-belt library for JavaScript that provides a lot of the functional...
  • Jinja2 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-24
  • Underscore.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-12-17

Jinja2 features and specs

  • Template Inheritance
    Jinja2 supports template inheritance, allowing developers to create base templates that can be extended by other templates, promoting reusability and reducing redundancy.
  • Easy to Use
    Jinja2 has a simple syntax that is easy to learn, making it accessible for developers with varying levels of experience.
  • Extensible
    Jinja2 can be easily extended with custom filters and tests, allowing developers to enhance its functionality to suit specific application needs.
  • Safe by Default
    The template engine auto-escapes variables to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, enhancing security in web applications.
  • Sandboxed Environment
    Jinja2 runs code in a sandboxed environment, ensuring that user-inputted templates can be executed safely without compromising the server.

Possible disadvantages of Jinja2

  • Complex Logic Handling
    Jinja2 is not optimized for handling complex logic within templates, which can lead to messy and hard-to-maintain code if misused.
  • Limited Debugging
    Debugging Jinja2 templates can be challenging because error outputs are not always detailed, making it difficult to identify issues in large templates.
  • Performance Overhead
    Template rendering with Jinja2 might introduce performance overhead, which could impact the performance of heavily templated applications.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic usage is simple, mastering Jinja2's advanced features, such as custom filters and macros, can have a significant learning curve.

Underscore.js features and specs

  • Utility Functions
    Underscore.js provides a wealth of utility functions for common tasks such as map, reduce, filter, and more, making it easier to perform operations on arrays, objects, and collections.
  • Consistency
    The library offers a consistent API, which can make your code more readable and maintainable by providing a standard way to perform common programming tasks.
  • Lightweight
    Underscore.js is lightweight compared to full-featured libraries like Lodash, which can be a benefit if you're looking to minimize your application's footprint.
  • Browser Compatibility
    It supports a wide range of JavaScript environments, making it a good choice for projects that need to work across different browsers and Node.js.
  • Quick to Learn
    Easy to pick up for developers with even a basic understanding of JavaScript, due to its straightforward documentation and familiar function names.

Possible disadvantages of Underscore.js

  • Performance
    Underscore.js may not offer the same level of performance optimizations as more modern utility libraries like Lodash, potentially leading to slower execution for some tasks.
  • Limited Functionality
    While it covers many basic utility functions, its feature set is not as extensive as Lodash or other similar libraries, which provide a broader range of capabilities.
  • Outdated
    With the advent of ECMAScript 5 and later versions, many of the functions provided by Underscore.js are now natively available in JavaScript, reducing its necessity.
  • No Modularization
    Underscore does not support modular builds in the same way Lodash does, meaning you might end up including the entire library even if you only need a few functions.
  • Community and Maintenance
    While still maintained, Underscore.js has seen less active development and contributions compared to newer libraries, which could impact its long-term viability and support.

Jinja2 videos

Python and Jinja2 Cisco Network Automation

More videos:

  • Review - Python and Flask - Diving into Jinja2

Underscore.js videos

Introduction to Underscore.JS

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Jinja2 and Underscore.js)
Javascript UI Libraries
28 28%
72% 72
Development
100 100%
0% 0
Development Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Tool
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Underscore.js should be more popular than Jinja2. It has been mentiond 23 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Jinja2 mentions (4)

  • fetching list elements using jinja2 under flask app
    I have a list say list[a][b] of length 10.I want to print from list[0][b] to list[10][b] and use it in jinja2 template. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Jinja2: How to create multidimensional javascript array?
    I am using Flask with Jinja2 as templating language. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Issue a POST request with url_for in Flask
    I'm trying to issue a POST request within a Jinja template in Flask. However, parameters are passed in via GET by default, and this particular method only accepts POST requests. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Build a CRUD application with Flask and SQLAlchemy
    For our application above, we defined the string "My flask app" within our Python code. This was okay, as it was a single line, but as our front-end code grows, it will be cumbersome to define everything in our Python file. Flask allows for separation of concerns though so-called "templates." These are usually .html files, with some Python logic mixed in through the Jinja template engine language. Let's add a... - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago

Underscore.js mentions (23)

  • JavaScript evolution: From Lodash and Underscore to vanilla
    Underscore was created by Jeremy Ashkenas (the creator of Backbone.js) in 2009 to provide a set of utility functions that JavaScript lacked at the time. It was also created to work with Backbone.js, but it slowly became a favorite among developers who needed utility functions that they could just call and get stuff done with without having to worry about the inner implementations and browser compatibility. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • KlongPy: High-Performance Array Programming in Python
    There was a step-change improvement for me when I tried expressing some JS patterns via `underscore.js` instead of procedurally: eg: http://underscorejs.org/#each Thinking of something as `each | map | filter | sum` is waaay less buggy than writing bespoke procedural code to do the same thing. No doubt there is a "cost" to it as well, but the _abstraction_ is valuable. Now, if there were a "compiler" which could... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • 100+ Must-Have Web Development Resources
    Underscore.js: A utility library that offers a full set of functional programming helpers without extending any built-in JavaScript objects. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Mastering Node.js
    Underscore contains just about every core utility method you want. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • 8 NPM Packages for JavaScript Beginners [2024][+tutorials]
    Not too far behind is Underscore.js, another utility library that's all about enhancing your JavaScript mojo. Whether you're dealing with arrays, objects, or strings, Underscore has got something for you. It's like Lodash's sibling, offering similar functionalities but with its own flair. The choice between them is like picking between chocolate and vanilla - it really comes down to personal taste. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Jinja2 and Underscore.js, you can also consider the following products

Pug - Pug is a robust, elegant, feature rich template engine for Node.js

jQuery - The Write Less, Do More, JavaScript Library.

Handlebars - Handlebars is a JavaScript template library that is, more or less, based on ...

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

jquery-template - A template plugin for jQuery. Allows templating without cluttering JavaScript code with markup.

Babel - Babel is a compiler for writing next generation JavaScript.