brian moseley wrote:
>
> On Mon, 4 Sep 2000, Perrin Harkins wrote:
>
> > [% FOREACH thing = list %]
> > <a href="[% thing.url %]"><b>[% thing.name %]</b></a>
> > [% END %]
>
> what's the value?
It's easier for some people to understand and write without help from an
engineer.
> you have to write a parser and then
> interpret the instructions.
You always have to do that, since templates with perl code in them are
not valid perl and have to be translated. The taglib-based systems I'm
familiar with use some kind of parser to read the template and generate
valid perl which is then eval'ed. That's exactly what Mason does too,
and Mason's parser is not trivial.
> your syntax is no prettier or easier to understand than the
> perl.
That's debatable. The designers where I work preferred it.
Anyway, this is not a one-size-fits-all issue, and there are good
systems available that use both techniques. I'm writing an essay about
this issue for the new template guide Drew and I are working on, and
I'll try to summarize all the arguments on both sides. Please read
through it when we release it and let me know if there's anything I've
missed.
- Perrin
