# Recommended templating system

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/recommended-templating-system/87986>\
**Category:** Ruby\
**Created:** [March 27, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/recommended-templating-system/87986 "2006-03-27T23:08:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Alexandru\_ESUngur](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@Alexandru\_ESUngur](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Alexandru_ESUngur)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/recommended-templating-system/87986/1 "2006-03-27T23:08:47Z")

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Hi all,

I’m new to Ruby, coming from PHP and Perl.  
I am looking for a good templating system to use for building  
web applications. So far I’ve found:

- cs/Template :: [http://cstemplate.rubyforge.org/](http://cstemplate.rubyforge.org/)
- PageTemplate :: [http://coolnamehere.com/products/pagetemplate/](http://coolnamehere.com/products/pagetemplate/)
- Canny :: [Canny :: Documentation](http://canny.sourceforge.net/documentation.shtml)
- Kwartz :: [http://www.kuwata-lab.com/kwartz/](http://www.kuwata-lab.com/kwartz/)
- Amrita :: [http://amrita.sourceforge.jp/](http://amrita.sourceforge.jp/)
- XTemplate :: [http://xtemplate.sourceforge.net/](http://xtemplate.sourceforge.net/)

Thoughts, advices, more templating engines… are all highly  
appreciated.

I know each project will have its pros and cons, but I was just  
wondering if there is a consensus on which is ‘the best’?

Take PHP world for example. All clear: Smarty is the best tool  
for the job (well, not if I look at the Kwartz diagram on its  
homepage :D, but so far Smarty has suited me, and all the PHP  
developers I know, just fine).

Thank you,  
and have a good night everyone,

Alex

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**Author:** ![Alexandru\_ESUngur](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@Alexandru\_ESUngur](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Alexandru_ESUngur)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/recommended-templating-system/87986/2 "2006-03-27T23:23:37Z")

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Alexandru E. Ungur wrote:

> I know each project will have its pros and cons, but I was just  
> wondering if there is a consensus on which is ‘the best’?

I’m not sure you’ll get consensus. Also don’t forget erb, which is  
included in the Ruby distribution. There’s an enhanced version of it  
that was recently released too; however, the name escapes me ATM.

–Steve

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**Author:** ![Alexandru\_ESUngur](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@Alexandru\_ESUngur](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Alexandru_ESUngur)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 12:43am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/recommended-templating-system/87986/3 "2006-03-28T00:43:18Z")

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Alexandru E. Ungur wrote:

> [http://amrita.sourceforge.jp/](http://amrita.sourceforge.jp/) - XTemplate ::  
> [http://xtemplate.sourceforge.net/](http://xtemplate.sourceforge.net/)
> 
> Thoughts, advices, more templating engines… are all highly  
> appreciated.

I had quite a time trying to decide. I went initially with Amrita (which  
has a version 1 and a version 2, as separate projects), but had some  
trouble deciphering the examples.  
Kwartz I only browsedd the code.  
I finally ended up using erb, which is simple and flexible enough to  
suit most needs.  
Cheers,  
V.-

–  
[http://www.braveworld.net/riva](http://www.braveworld.net/riva)

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**Author:** ![Alexandru\_ESUngur](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@Alexandru\_ESUngur](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Alexandru_ESUngur)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 12:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/recommended-templating-system/87986/4 "2006-03-28T12:55:29Z")

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Thank you for your suggestions.  
erb looks quite nice.

Thanks,  
Alex