Comment by ColonelPhantom
4 years ago
Isn't a template essentially a "function" that takes data and returns a view? I don't have much experience with UI programming but I don't really see the conceptual difference.
4 years ago
Isn't a template essentially a "function" that takes data and returns a view? I don't have much experience with UI programming but I don't really see the conceptual difference.
No, the template is usually a static file that is read into memory and served over HTTP or locally if it's a JS only site. But before being served, it's being picked at via imperative operations. And if it's really bad, then when a user presses a button it triggers some event that actually statefully changes the view itself.
I don't see template operations as imperative, rather I see them as declarative: you write the HTML and declare lists/placeholders inside the HTML. You also don't generally do much with the data except insert it into HTML; the rest of the backend is responsible for fetching/etc the data.
Yeah, but the function itself doesn't return that view. The framework you're working in essentially composes the view based on the associated code and template. This is fundamentally different from just returning the view itself in the function. These are all declarative approaches, but leaving your view in code is a lot better.
Every template-based framework I've seen has involved a lot of magic, syntax and DSL. That's not to say that JSX isn't a DSL as well but you can return regular React.Elements just as easily. You shouldn't need to remember a unique expression system just to be able to conditionally render. The premise that you're just not doing much with the data except dumping it into HTML is less true the more complex your site becomes. Think of the loads of conditions and evaluations that happen when you go to your Facebook wall or friends list.
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That is a usual way this is done but not what it means. In fact, HTML recently got a `<template>` tag which is definitely not a separate file or served separately. Vue.js also refers to the HTML-ish portion of a component as "template".