Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Mustache.js VS Underscore.js

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

Mustache.js logo Mustache.js

Minimal templating with {{mustaches}} in JavaScript - janl/mustache.js

Underscore.js logo Underscore.js

Underscore is a utility-belt library for JavaScript that provides a lot of the functional...
  • Mustache.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-22
  • Underscore.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-12-17

Mustache.js features and specs

  • Logic-less Templates
    Mustache.js enforces a logic-less approach to templating, which helps in maintaining separation of concerns by ensuring that templates only concern themselves with presentation and not business logic.
  • Cross-platform Support
    Mustache.js is a JavaScript implementation of the Mustache templating language, which is supported across multiple platforms and languages, making it highly versatile and easy to integrate with various projects.
  • Lightweight
    Mustache.js is a lightweight library with a small footprint, which leads to faster loading times and reduced performance overhead compared to heavier templating engines.
  • Easy to Learn
    The syntax of Mustache is minimalistic and resembles regular HTML, making it easy to learn and adopt, especially for developers familiar with HTML.
  • Prevents Complexity
    By being logic-less, Mustache.js discourages embedding complex logic in templates, which can lead to cleaner and more maintainable codebases.

Possible disadvantages of Mustache.js

  • Limited Logic Handling
    While the logic-less nature of Mustache.js encourages separation of concerns, it can be limiting for developers who need to embed complex logic in their templates, requiring workarounds or supplementary handling in JavaScript.
  • Performance Issues with Large Data
    Mustache.js may encounter performance bottlenecks when rendering large data sets, as the library processes templates and data at runtime.
  • No Built-in Helpers
    Unlike some other templating engines, Mustache.js does not support helpers or custom logic extensions, which can make common tasks cumbersome or require additional code.
  • Lack of Advanced Features
    Mustache.js lacks some advanced features found in other templating engines, such as conditionals and loops within templates, which can limit its functionality for complex applications.
  • Dependency on External Logic
    Because Mustache.js relies heavily on external data processing, it may lead to scattered business logic across the application that might be difficult to manage as the project grows.

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.

Mustache.js videos

Getting started with Mustache.js

More videos:

  • Tutorial - JavaScript and JSON tutorial: JavaScript templating with mustache.js | lynda.com

Underscore.js videos

Introduction to Underscore.JS

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Mustache.js and Underscore.js)
Javascript UI Libraries
19 19%
81% 81
Development
100 100%
0% 0
Development Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Frontend Development
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 Mustache.js. 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.

Mustache.js mentions (12)

  • Documenting my pin collection with Segment Anything: Part 3
    Mustache.js: This is a templating engine used for rendering templates on the web. In your application, Mustache.js is used to dynamically create HTML forms based on the data received from the server, such as image cutouts and identifiers. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • NakedJSX - Use JSX without React
    JSX just a templating language in this case, right? No reactivity at all? What's the benefit against using something like https://github.com/janl/mustache.js/ ? Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Im not sure if im asking the right question here, but how do you create separate pages on a website?
    Nonetheless, I made ridiculous simple MRE(minimal reproducible example) for you: Https://codesandbox.io/s/distracted-gauss-gqfiue You might quickly realize the annoyance of html as strings, move to some template then, e.g: https://handlebarsjs.com/guide/ Also this example uses a library for the routing matching. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Managing application cache with react-query, and code generation.
    Mustache.js is a template engine for creating js templates. Cosmiconfig is a tool to make it convenient to work with the configuration. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
  • After an eternity, java.com has updated its homepage
    For a small page like that, they are using Oracle content management, knockoutjs, RedwoodJs, MarkedJs, MustacheJs, JQuery and Bootstrap. There's like 10+ layers or div, header and nav elements just to display the logo. They can't even properly anchor the footer at the bottom... Source: almost 3 years ago
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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 Mustache.js and Underscore.js, you can also consider the following products

EJS - An open source JavaScript Template library.

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

Vash - Vash is a template engine that offers a swift flow between code and content using Razor Syntax

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

FLAVE - Flave was created to bring ASP.

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