Hardtemplating

Hardtemplating is a design approach in which templates are populated with fixed, hard-coded values rather than sourcing data from external data models, content management systems, or user input. It emphasizes embedding literals directly into the template rather than deferring content to data sources or runtime configuration.

In practice, a hardtemplated template contains literals for text, URLs, identifiers, and sometimes embedded logic to compute values. It is most common in static sites, early prototypes, or performance-critical rendering where data can be provided at build time or is known in advance. The approach aims to simplify the rendering pipeline by limiting data dependencies.

Advantages of hardtemplating include simpler templates, faster rendering, easier caching, and reduced runtime data dependencies. These benefits can be valuable in situations where content is stable, the environment is constrained, or deployment aims to minimize dynamic data fetches.

Drawbacks include reduced reusability, localization and internationalization difficulties, content duplication, higher maintenance burden, and testing challenges. Because content is embedded directly in templates, updates often require code changes and redeployments, which can hinder scalability and long-term adaptability.

Examples of hardtemplating often appear as HTML fragments that hard-code site-wide values such as the site title, language, or contact information, rather than loading them from a configuration file or content source. Hardtemplating sits near the spectrum of hardcoding and is contrasted with data-driven templating, dynamic rendering, or content-first approaches used by many templating engines and content management systems.

See also: Hardcoding, Templating, Static site generation, Data-driven templating.