From: James Edward Gray II <james@...>
Date: 2005-07-17T05:38:43+09:00
Subject: Re: delaying string evaluation

On Jul 16, 2005, at 3:23 PM, Navindra Umanee wrote:

> James Edward Gray II <james@grayproductions.net> wrote:
>
>> Are you aware that Ruby ships with a templating language in its
>> standard library?
>>
>
> Yes I know of ERB.  I am not sure what the advantage of using a
> different syntax is, when I can simply use the same Ruby syntax but
> escape it when necessary.
>
> <%= delay %> is at least as verbose as \#{delay}.
>
> What advantage do you see to using a new syntax instead of just Ruby?

Off the top of my head:

* ERb's <% ... %> flow control construct.
* The ability to control spacing as you can with the special string  
ERb's constructor takes.
* ERb's handy "% ... entire line of code ..." shortcut.
* ERb's utility methods for HTML and URL escaping.

But if you've found what works for you, far be it from me to  
complain.  I was just making sure you were aware of another option.

James Edward Gray II