[Baypiggies] Output generation - (string operations/triple quote/template)

[Benjamin Sergeant]

If you want a very simple and easy to integrate templating engine you
might check this one:
http://pytof.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/pytof/ezt.py (1 file :)

Check the edna code or my humble pet project (pytof) for usage.

Benjamin.

ps:
I moved from triple quoting to templating and I think it was a good move ...


On 2/13/07, Tung Wai Yip <tungwaiyip at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > On Tue, 13 Feb 2007, Tung Wai Yip wrote:
> >
> >> My HTMLTestRunner is a real world example of generating moderately
> >> complex
> >> text output using triple quoted text blocks.
> >>
> >>     http://tungwaiyip.info/software/HTMLTestRunner.html
> >>
> >> I agree with JJ that template language is another good alternative,
> >> especially for more complex generation. While this is subjective and
> >> everyone have different criteria, I consider the approach of
> >> interleaving
> >> Python code with the target output hard to maintain. It goes back to the
> >> Java Servlet approach and the many addon projects later to provide
> >> better
> >> alternatives.
> >
> > Are you sort-of saying that having a separate template is like having a
> > ".h" file, and that keeping code+data local in the program makes things
> > easier to understand, and, therefore, perhaps Python needs to include
> > better templating features?
> >
> > (Yes, I know I'm putting lots of words in your mouth, but I'd appreciate
> > more detail on what you mean.)
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > -Mike
>
>
> Sorry for not explaining myself sufficiently. I was contrasting different
> approach of generating non-trivial text output using Python.
>
>
> 1. Use string operations (+, %, etc)
>
> This is the most straight forward approach with no dependency on external
> library. With Python code it can make use of arbitrary logic. The con is
> it leads to mixing of Python code and target text that made it hard to
> read. Too much Python logic sprinkled inside would make the flow
> especially hard to follow.
>
>
> 2. Use triple quoted text block
>
> This is the similar to 1. except you can group more target text into a
> larger unit, thus provide a higher degree of separation of Python code and
> the target output. Also the ' and " characters do not need to be escaped
> inside a text block, therefore it is a big boon in readability when you
> are generating text with a lot of quotes (like HTML or XML).
>
>
> 3. Use a template langauge
>
> By template language it means the likes of Cheetah, Myghty, Mako, or
> Genshi as JJ mentioned. The parallel in Java world is JSP and Velocity.
> They are routinely used in webpage generation because they are more
> powerful and makes complex project easier to maintain. It also mean to
> create an interfacing point between programmers and designers. The con is
> the dependency on third party library, more new language to learn and also
> a risk of lock-in to a third-party language. Also while the goal is
> provide a high degree of separation between code and the template, in
> practice it is never perfect and we often find code spill over to the
> template.
>
>
> Depends on the complexity of the problem, all approach has their
> appropiate use. In theory more separation is better. But if you have a
> simple problem, it maybe burdensome to invoke a template library and edit
> two separate files.
>
> I especially emphasize triple quote not because it the best solution to
> every problem but that it is an overlooked feature in Python that often
> significantly improve string operations as oppose to using a lot of string
> concatenations. It is also a big improvement in readability.
>
>
> Wai Yip
>
>
>
>
>
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