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Underscore Templates VS EJS

Compare Underscore Templates VS EJS and see what are their differences

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Contents:
  1. ยป Base Details
  2. ยป Videos
  3. ยป Reviews
  4. ยป Alternatives

Underscore Templates logo Underscore Templates

Underscore.js template function for micro templating.

EJS logo EJS

An open source JavaScript Template library.
  • Underscore Templates Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-12-18
  • EJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-11

Underscore Templates features and specs

  • Simplicity
    Underscore templates offer a simple and straightforward syntax for embedding JavaScript logic within HTML templates, making it easier for developers to create templates without a steep learning curve.
  • Server-Side and Client-Side Rendering
    These templates can be easily used for both client-side and server-side rendering, which provides flexibility in where and how logic and templates can be executed.
  • Lightweight
    Since Underscore.js is a utility library, it is relatively lightweight compared to larger frameworks, making template rendering faster for simple projects.
  • JavaScript Expressions
    Allows the use of any JavaScript expressions, providing the flexibility to include complex logic directly within the templates without additional processing.

Possible disadvantages of Underscore Templates

  • Limited Features
    Compared to full-fledged templating engines like Handlebars or Mustache, Underscore templates are limited in features, lacking built-in helpers and partials, which can make complex templating harder.
  • HTML Escaping
    By default, Underscore templates do not escape HTML, which requires developers to manually handle HTML escaping to prevent security vulnerabilities like XSS (Cross-Site Scripting).
  • Performance
    For very large templates or numerous updates, the performance might not be as efficient as specialized React/Vue components or virtual DOM implementations due to lack of optimizations.
  • Maintenance Difficulty
    Embedding logic directly within templates can lead to maintenance difficulties, as templates can become cluttered with JavaScript code, reducing the separation of concerns.

EJS features and specs

  • Simplicity
    EJS is easy to learn and use, especially for developers who are already familiar with JavaScript. The syntax is straightforward, making it a good choice for quick application development.
  • JavaScript Integration
    Since EJS templates are JavaScript files, you can seamlessly integrate JavaScript code, making it easy to manipulate data and use familiar JavaScript functions.
  • Lightweight
    EJS is a lightweight template engine, which makes it an optimal choice for applications where performance and simplicity are critical.
  • Flexibility
    Allows for the embedding of plain JavaScript within the templates, giving developers the flexibility to add logic directly in their HTML.
  • Partial Templates
    Supports partials, which help to reuse code snippets across different views, promoting DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) principles.
  • Server-Side Rendering
    Supports server-side rendering, which can improve performance by reducing the amount of client-side processing needed.

Possible disadvantages of EJS

  • Limited Functionality
    Compared to more feature-rich template engines like Handlebars or Pug, EJS offers limited functionalities which might be a drawback for large, complex projects.
  • Debugging
    Debugging EJS templates can sometimes be challenging. Errors within templates can often be vague, making it difficult to trace the root cause.
  • Maintenance
    Embedding a lot of JavaScript within templates can make the code harder to read and maintain, especially as the complexity of the application grows.
  • Performance Overhead
    For very large and complex templates, EJS can introduce a performance overhead compared to more optimized template engines designed for high performance.
  • Community and Support
    While EJS has a reasonable user base, the community and support may not be as extensive as more popular alternatives like React or Vue.js.

Analysis of EJS

Overall verdict

  • Yes, EJS is considered good, particularly for projects where developers want ease of use and flexibility with JavaScript templating. It is lightweight, easy to learn, and integrates well with Express, a popular Node.js web application framework.

Why this product is good

  • EJS (Embedded JavaScript Templating) is popular because it provides a simple way to generate HTML markup with plain JavaScript. It allows for the embedding of JavaScript logic within your HTML templates, making it straightforward to use for those familiar with JavaScript. It's known for its efficiency in rendering templates and ease of integration with Node.js applications.

Recommended for

    EJS is recommended for developers building server-side web applications using Node.js and those looking for a simple, yet effective, templating solution. It is particularly suitable for small to medium-sized projects where dynamic content generation is needed and for teams that prioritize simplicity and performance.

Underscore Templates videos

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EJS videos

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Kane Creek - Bestop Trail Review at EJS 2019

More videos:

  • Tutorial - JavaScript Templating Tutorial | Introduction To EJS

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Underscore Templates and EJS)

Underscore Templates

EJS

Localization
40 40%
Localization
60% 60
Javascript UI Libraries
12 12%
Javascript UI Libraries
88% 88
Development
32 32%
Development
68% 68
Website Localization
100 100%
Website Localization
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, EJS seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 26 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.

Underscore Templates mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Underscore Templates yet. Tracking of Underscore Templates recommendations started around Mar 2021.

EJS mentions (26)

  • Next.js vs Express: What to Choose in 2025?
    Express does not provide SEO benefits by default and would require additional configuration with tools like EJS (Embedded JavaScript) or Handlebars for server-side rendering. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Chapter 7: HTML part two
    For a more robust approach, we'd probably need to install a templating language of some kind, such as Twig, EJS, Handlebars, Pug or Mustache (this is not a complete list!). Reading the documentation for posthtml-modules, you'll notice it doesn't mention package.json or any of the approaches we've used in this guide. Instead, the examples are in JavaScript and we've advised to add this to our Node application. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Web Components and SSR - 2024 Edition
    Server-side Framework SSR is when you use a framework that runs the HTML templating logic entirely on the server to compose the HTML that will be rendered in the browser. These are frameworks like Ruby on Rails, ASP.Net, PHP, or even Node.js frameworks that use templating languages like Pug or EJS. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • How to Build an Application With Node.js
    We need a templating engine to render HTML code in the browser using Node.js. We'll use ejs (Embedded JavaScript) for this tutorial but there are others such as Pug (formerly known as Jade) and Express Handlebar, which also render HTML on the server. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
  • Getting to the meat and potatoes of serverless recipe parsing with Amazon Bedrock
    The tags is where you put the HTML you want Claude to read. The <%- document %> contained within is an ejs placeholder. More on this shortly. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Underscore Templates and EJS, you can also consider the following products

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

FLAVE - Flave was created to bring ASP.

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

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

Vue.js - Reactive Components for Modern Web Interfaces

XSLT in-browser implementation - XSLT is a cross-browser API for converting XML data into string or virtual DOM implemented natively with multithreaded streaming processing.

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