Difference between pug and EJS

In this article, we will discuss the difference between Pug and EJS. Before discussing their differences, we must know about Pug and EJS with their use cases, advantages, disadvantages, and examples.

Introduction to Pug

Pug is a templating engine that is used for node.js applications. It compiles templates, and it is also known as Jade. Pug makes the code cleaner because it uses indentation-based syntax. It reduces repetitive and verbose HTML code. It is used in node.js applications for rendering dynamic content on the server side.

Use Cases of Pug:

Some of the general use cases are as follows:

Dynamic website generation.
It is commonly used with Express.js to render web pages.
It is also used for static site generation.

Advantages of Pug:

Several advantages of Pug are as follows:

Concise syntax: It is indentation-based syntax, which reduces the amount of code that must be written but gives the same functionality as large html files.
Readability: There is no use of closing tags, which is easily understood by the beginner and increases the readability.
Reusability: Pug allows developers to create and reuse the already created components by using different concepts like inheritance etc.
It is easily integrated with JavaScript.

Disadvantages of Pug:

Several disadvantages of Pug are as follows:

Indentation sensitivity: Developers have to take care about the spaces while writing the programs.
Compatibility: Pug's non-HTML syntax is not easily integrated with HTML projects and libraries

Example:

Let us take an example to illustrate the usage of Pug.

Step 1: Install pug and express in the application folder using "npm i express pug".

Step 2: Create "app.js" file and write the below code.

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
app.set('view engine', 'pug');
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.render('index', { title: 'Pug Example', message: 'Hello, Pug!' });
});
app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Server is running on http://localhost:3000');
});

Step 3: Create sub folder with name views and create "index.pug" file in views folder.

Now, write the below code in index.pug file

doctype html
html
  head
    title= title
  body
    h1= message
    p Hello all, I am using Pug templating engine

Output:

Introduction to EJS

EJS stands for Embedded JavaScript. It is most widely used templating engine for node.js applications. It is popular because it allows developers to embed the JavaScript code and HTML code in the same HTML file. It also renders dynamic content in the server side. It is used for creating responsive, interactive, and data-driven web applications.

Use Cases of EJS:

Some of the general use cases of EJS are as follows:

Dynamic web pages: EJS renders dynamic HTML pages where the content changes based on the user actions like user inputs.
Express.js applications: It also uses express.js for creating views in node.js applications, where Model-view-controller architecture is used.
Email Templates: It can also used to generate dynamic email content.

Advantages of EJS:

Several advantages of EJS are as follows:

Familiar syntax: The syntax is more like HTML and JavaScript. It is easy to learn for the beginners.
Reusability: EJS supports partials and includes which help developers to create and reuse the components in the application.
Integration: It is tightly integrated with JavaScript.

Disadvantages of EJS:

Several disadvantages of EJS are as follows:

Verbose syntax: Templates are harder to read and complex when both the logic and HTML tags are written in the same file
Performance: Using JavaScript logic heavily will show impact on performance.

Example:

Let us take an example to illustrate the usage of EJS.

Step 1: Install EJS and express in the application folder using "npm i express ejs".

Step 2: Create "app.js" file and write the below code

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
app.set('view engine', 'ejs');
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.render('index', { title: 'EJS Example', message: 'Hello, EJS!' });
});
app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Server is running on http://localhost:3000');
});

Step 3: Create sub folder with name views and create "index.ejs" file in views folder.

Now, write the below code in index.ejs file

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title><%= title %></title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1><%= message %></h1>
    <p>hello all, I am using EJS templating engine</p>
  </body>
</html>

Output:

Key differences between Pug and Ejs:

There are several key differences between the Pug and EJS. Some main differences are as follows:

Aspect	Pug	Ejs
Syntax style	It uses indentation-based syntax.	It uses HTML code embedded with JavaScript code.
Readability	It is easy to read and understand.	It is harder to read and understand.
Tag closing	It eliminates the need for closing tags. Here, each tag is automatically closed.	Here, most of the tags should be closed manually.
File extension	It uses ".pug" extension that indicates the use of pug template engine.	It uses ".ejs" extension indicating the use of EJS template engine.
Templating features	Some of the important features of pug are mixins, loops, and conditional statements, which are used while programming.	It has partials and includes for creating and reusing components and it uses native JavaScript functions for implementing logic.
Error handling	Complex to debug and find the error.	Easy to find errors, and it provides detailed information about the error that occurred in the program.
Compatibility with tools	Pug's syntax can create compatibility issues with tools and editors. Therefore, it needs configuration.	EJS works efficiently with most of the tools and editors that support HTML.
Community	It has less community support when compared to EJS. However, it is also used by modern web developers.	It has large and broader community support. We can find resources easily related to EJS.