Mustache vs Thymeleaf: What are the differences?

Introduction

Mustache and Thymeleaf are both popular template engines used in web development. While they serve a similar purpose of separating the presentation and logic layers in a web application, there are key differences between them.

1. Variable Usage: Mustache uses a simple syntax for variables, where you just need to wrap the variable name with double curly braces, for example, {{ variable }}. Thymeleaf, on the other hand, uses a more expressive syntax with attributes like th:text or th:field to bind and display variables. This allows Thymeleaf to provide additional functionality like conditional expressions and iteration that are not available in Mustache.

2. Template Composition: Mustache focuses on keeping templates as simple as possible and encourages reusability through partials. It does not support template composition natively, and you need to rely on external tools or frameworks to achieve this. Thymeleaf, on the other hand, supports template composition out of the box through its layout dialect. This allows for reusable layout templates and easier management of shared content.

3. Client-side Rendering: Mustache is primarily designed for server-side rendering, where the template is processed on the server and the resulting HTML is sent to the client. Thymeleaf, on the other hand, supports both server-side and client-side rendering. It provides JavaScript events and expressions to enhance the rendering on the client side, making it suitable for more interactive web applications.

4. Integration with Spring Framework: Thymeleaf has a tight integration with the Spring Framework. It supports powerful features like form binding, validation, and internationalization that simplify web application development with Spring. Mustache, on the other hand, is a standalone template engine and does not have any specific integration with the Spring Framework. It can be used with Spring, but it requires additional configuration and libraries.

5. Template Syntax: Mustache has a very simple and lightweight syntax, which makes it easy to learn and use. It follows the principle of "logic-less" templates and focuses on simplicity and readability. Thymeleaf, on the other hand, has a more feature-rich syntax with a wide range of attributes and directives. This allows for more powerful template manipulation and dynamic rendering, but it also introduces a steeper learning curve.

6. Ecosystem and Community: Mustache has been around for quite some time and has a mature and stable ecosystem. It is supported by many different languages and frameworks, making it a popular choice for cross-platform development. Thymeleaf, on the other hand, has gained popularity mainly in the Java ecosystem, especially with the Spring Framework community. It has a growing community and a range of plugins and integrations specifically designed for Java web development.

In Summary, Mustache and Thymeleaf differ in their variable usage, template composition capabilities, support for client-side rendering, integration with the Spring Framework, template syntax complexity, and their respective ecosystems and communities.