Why would I use Smarty?

[jimbo_dk]

I've never really tried out Smarty Templates a lot. I always thought that was an over complication of something that could be done just as easily using just PHP.

But recently some clients have requested their site use Smarty. So I'd like to know what's the main advantage(s) of using Smarty?

Thanks in advance...

[Raju Gautam]

Please visit the site itself will describe you the advantages.
http://smarty.php.net/

[jimbo_dk]

Thanks for the link Rajug, but I've already visited this site, and well, publisher's sites are usually biased. What I'm looking for is comments from current/past users of Smarty.

[uberhost]

There are CMS and e-commerce solutions that are encoded but make provision for using smarty (WHMCS comes to mind), so in this case it would be your only means of making certain changes without having the source code.

[Cups]

Is your question "should I use Templates?" or "should I use Smarty?".

I haven't used Smarty, but I did try a simple Template system ( Richard! phpguru.org) many years ago.

Its been the subject of much debate as can be seen here (work your way down the page)
http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/show...marty+learning

Search this and the PAD forum for Smarty and you will get even more info.

This is probably an important document to read too;
http://www.phppatterns.com/docs/desi...mplate_engines

If you want to use Templates because you seek discipline in your efforts to seperate logic from HTML, then you might have a point in using them (personally I don't, I find them turgid - but then again I work largely in isolation).

If you are going into a shop where all the HTML designers are used to using Smarty, then yes, it sounds like a job requirement.

If you want to use a Template because you feel it will make your life easier, well, some would say its just another language to learn and remember - and debug.

Up to you chap. Hth.

[jimbo_dk]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Cups: Great links. I guess my question really is "should I use Templates?". I referred to Smarty because that was the templating system on my mind.

After reading through I've re-enforced my initial thoughts that templating systems are really redundant add-ons, and "just another language to learn and remember - and debug".

I mostly work in isolation as well. Even if I have to work with other designers, I don't think typing "<?php echo $name; ?>" instead of "{ $name }" would be that big of a deal.

[felgall]

The template, processing, and database access are three different layers which need to be implemented separately in order to make large to huge systems maintainable. If you only have a few dozen pages then jumbling these layers together will not make any significant difference since you can spend the extra time working out what part of the code belongs to which layer.

The split between these layers is not as obvious as the split between the content, appearance, and behaviour layers as those layers use different languages while the template, processing, and database access layers all usually use the same language.

[jimbo_dk]

The template, processing, and database access are three different layers which need to be implemented separately in order to make large to huge systems maintainable. If you only have a few dozen pages then jumbling these layers together will not make any significant difference since you can spend the extra time working out what part of the code belongs to which layer.

I see your point. The systems I handle right now are manageable enough. But I will remember this for the future.