mainstreamtl

MainstreamTL is a term used in software development to describe template languages that have achieved widespread adoption in mainstream web and software projects. It is not a single software project, but a category used to discuss common design goals, capabilities, and trade-offs associated with templating systems used to generate dynamic content.

Though the phrase is informal, several languages are frequently cited as examples of mainstream template languages, including Mustache, Handlebars, Liquid, Jinja, and Twig. These languages are designed to separate presentation from application logic, enabling developers to produce output with minimal scripting inside templates while allowing variable interpolation, basic control flow, and extendable behavior through helpers or filters.

Common characteristics of mainstream template languages include a declarative syntax, escaping and safety features to mitigate injection risks, and mechanisms for template inheritance or composition. Some emphasize a logic-free or logic-light approach to improve portability across frameworks, while others support richer constructs for looping, conditionals, and custom extensions.

MainstreamTL concepts have grown with the rise of component-based front-end frameworks and server-side rendering. They are used across many programming languages and ecosystems, with integrations tailored to popular web stacks. The discussion around mainstream templates often centers on portability, performance, security, and the balance between simplicity and expressiveness.

Critics argue that templating languages can obscure data structures or lead to leakage of business logic into the view layer. Proponents counter that well-chosen templates improve maintainability and collaboration. Ongoing developments emphasize safer escaping, better auto-escaping, and standardized interfaces for templates across platforms.

See also templating language, Mustache, Handlebars, Liquid, Jinja, Twig, Django templates.