Idea: common template syntax

[Dracony]

Ok, so this is exactly what it sounds, a generic syntax for templating that would specify a basic limited subset of operators (e.g. foreach, if, else). Basically an extended version of Mustache.

This sounds really weird, because usually syntax is the defining feature of a templating engine, so it feels wrong to come up with a generic one. But think of the possibilities:

• Language agnostic syntax would also allow rendering with js
• Easy to upgrade from one engine to another (people who have ported sites from Smarty to Twig know what I mean)
• Unlike logicless Mustache we can add features such as comparisons and other asy to implement operators that allow some logic

The important featres that must be in:

• Outputting (wee obviously)
• foreach loop
• if/elseif/else
• ternary operator
• regular for loop
• includes
• layouts
• blocks
• native calls (e.g. raw php code to eval)

Like the idea? If so, I can totally pick this up!

[Alexander Makarov]

Idea is OK but is out of scope of the group, I'm afraid.

[Mathew Whitney]

The allowance for native calls would seem to conflict with the idea of a language-agnostic syntax. I think a lot of PHP and/or JS template systems are just reinventing XSL/XSLT (knowingly or in ignorance) in a syntax which is more palatable to the developers of those systems, which would also lead me to suggest looking at XSL, if not as a solution, then at least as an example of some of the things which do and don't work in terms of a generic syntax for templating.