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by Akira Matsuda I’m sure you have to choose a template engine when you’re working on a web app. So almost everyone here must have your favourite template engine, I guess. Today I would like to tell a story about me and the Ruby template engines. If you think you’re totally satisfied with your Ruby template engine, maybe you will learn that your template engine is not perfect. Or, for those who are already feeling unhappy with something in your template engine, I’ll tell you what you should do next. Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/GVgh/
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In the talk titled "A Quest for the Ultimate Template Engine," Akira Matsuda shares his personal experiences and thoughts regarding Ruby template engines, primarily focusing on ERB, HAML, and Slim. The session begins with Matsuda's introduction as a Ruby and Rails developer from Japan, highlighting ERB as the default engine that many users start with due to its straightforward syntax. He addresses the common challenges associated with ERB, such as potential broken HTML and lack of validation. Matsuda then transitions to discussing HAML, which offers a more elegant markup style but can be slower in performance compared to ERB. This observation leads to a recount of a conversation with Minero Oki, a well-regarded Ruby committer, who highlighted HAML's speed issues. Matsuda confirms that indeed, after testing, HAML is approximately 7% slower than ERB, though he argues this difference is negligible in many real-world scenarios. Furthermore, he emphasizes the importance of striking a balance between a template engine's performance and the developers' happiness. He briefly examines Slim, another engine that claims to be lightweight and fast. While acknowledging Slim's performance benefits, he expresses his preference for HAML's syntax, showcasing the subjective nature of engine selection based on developer coding style. Matsuda also discusses his contributions to HAML and the challenges he faced while improving its performance without breaking existing functionality. His experience led him to create HAML X, which aims to achieve ERB-like speed while enhancing usability. He points out the ongoing experimental projects around HAML, including a colleague's ambitious endeavor of building a new engine, referred to as Fast HAML. In conclusion, Matsuda calls for participation from the community in developing new template engines while stressing the significance of good syntax and performance in achieving the ideal template engine, an aspiration that he believes is becoming increasingly realizable. The video encapsulates his journey and invites fellow developers to contribute to the growing discourse surrounding template engines in Ruby and Rails.
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