A simple templating language that lets you generate HTML markup with plain JavaScript.
EJS is a templating engine for JavaScript that allows developers to generate HTML markup by embedding JavaScript code directly within templates. It solves the problem of creating dynamic web pages by providing a simple syntax to mix logic and presentation, making it easy to render data-driven content on both the server and client side.
JavaScript developers building web applications with Node.js or needing client-side templating, particularly those using Express.js who want a straightforward, JavaScript-based template engine.
Developers choose EJS for its simplicity and familiarity—it uses plain JavaScript syntax within templates, requires minimal learning curve, and integrates seamlessly with Express.js, offering a lightweight yet powerful alternative to more complex templating languages.
Embedded JavaScript templates -- http://ejs.co
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Uses standard JavaScript within <% %> tags, allowing developers to write logic without learning a new templating language, as highlighted in the philosophy of prioritizing developer familiarity.
Works as a drop-in view engine for Express.js, enabling easy server-side rendering in Node.js applications with minimal setup, as noted in the features section.
Can render templates in browsers using the same syntax, facilitating isomorphic applications, with examples provided for including ejs.js files and using ejs.render().
Offers configurable delimiters and built-in caching options, including LRU cache integration, to improve performance and adapt to different coding environments, as detailed in the options and caching sections.
The README explicitly warns that EJS can execute arbitrary JavaScript, making it inherently insecure if used with unchecked user data, such as in the vulnerable snippet res.render('index', req.query).
Lacks built-in support for template inheritance or blocks; implementing layouts requires manual includes of headers and footers, which can become cumbersome in complex projects, as admitted in the layouts section.
Mixing HTML and JavaScript directly in templates can lead to hard-to-maintain, spaghetti-like code, especially in views with extensive logic, contrasting with more declarative modern frameworks.