Stories with Tag ERB

• Herb: Powerful and seamless HTML-aware ERB parsing and tooling

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  Posted: 2025-04-16 12:52:27

  Verbose tl;dr

  Herb is a new command-line tool and Rust library designed to improve the developer experience of working with ERB (Embedded Ruby) templates. It focuses on accurate and efficient parsing of HTML-aware ERB, addressing issues like incorrect syntax highlighting and code completion in existing tools. Herb offers features such as syntax highlighting, formatting, linting (with custom rules), and symbolic renaming within ERB templates, enabling more productive development and refactoring of complex view logic. By understanding the underlying HTML structure, Herb can provide more contextually relevant results and prevent issues common in tools that treat ERB as plain text or simple HTML. It aims to become an essential tool for Ruby on Rails developers and anyone working extensively with ERB.

  The Herb project introduces a novel approach to working with ERB (Embedded Ruby) templates, focusing on powerful parsing capabilities and seamless integration with HTML. Instead of treating ERB as plain text with embedded Ruby code, Herb leverages an HTML-aware parser. This allows it to understand the structure and context of the HTML within the template, leading to more accurate and robust manipulation and analysis.

  Herb's core strength lies in its deep understanding of HTML syntax. By parsing both HTML and embedded Ruby code simultaneously, it avoids the pitfalls of traditional regular expression-based approaches which can struggle with complex HTML structures and edge cases. This HTML awareness allows for sophisticated tooling and transformations previously difficult to achieve with ERB.

  The project offers a variety of practical tools built upon this foundation. One key feature is rewriting, which enables modifications and transformations of the ERB template based on its HTML structure. This contrasts with simpler string manipulation and allows for changes that respect and maintain the HTML integrity. For example, adding or modifying attributes of specific HTML tags becomes a straightforward operation.

  Another highlighted capability is linting. Herb's linting functionalities go beyond basic syntax checking. The HTML awareness allows for more context-aware linting rules, potentially identifying issues related to HTML structure, accessibility, or best practices, in addition to standard Ruby code linting within the ERB template.

  Furthermore, Herb provides formatting capabilities. By understanding the HTML structure, Herb can format both the HTML and embedded Ruby code in a consistent and aesthetically pleasing way. This ensures a standardized code style within ERB templates, enhancing readability and maintainability.

  The project emphasizes a focus on performance, aiming to provide efficient parsing and tooling for even large and complex ERB files. It also strives for a seamless integration into existing developer workflows, suggesting potential for incorporation into editors and build processes. Overall, Herb positions itself as a robust and powerful solution for managing and manipulating ERB templates, addressing limitations of traditional tools through its innovative HTML-aware approach.

  • html
  • ERB
  • ruby
  • Templating
  • parsing
  • Tooling
  • Web Development
  • Frontend Development
  • Backend Development
  • Code Generation
  • Syntax Highlighting
  • Linting
  • Formatting

  Summary of Comments ( 3 )
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43704853

  Verbose tl;dr

  Hacker News users generally praised Herb for its innovative approach to templating, particularly its HTML-awareness and the potential for improved refactoring capabilities. Some expressed excitement about its ability to parse and manipulate ERB templates more effectively than existing tools. A few commenters questioned the long-term viability of the project given its reliance on Tree-sitter, citing potential maintenance challenges and parser bugs. Others were curious about specific use cases and integration with existing Ruby tooling. Performance concerns and the overhead introduced by parsing were also mentioned, but overall the reception was positive, with many expressing interest in trying out Herb.

  The Hacker News post titled "Herb: Powerful and seamless HTML-aware ERB parsing and tooling" has generated several comments discussing the merits and potential drawbacks of the Herb tool.

  Several commenters express enthusiasm for the project, praising its ability to address the challenges of working with ERB templates, particularly within complex HTML structures. One user highlights the difficulty of refactoring ERB and how Herb seems to offer a solution to this long-standing problem. Another appreciates the ability to rename components and the potential time savings this feature offers. The clean and appealing design of the website is also mentioned positively.

  Some users raise concerns and questions. One commenter questions the performance implications of parsing HTML and ERB simultaneously, expressing a preference for precompiling ERB to avoid runtime parsing overhead. This sparks a discussion about the performance characteristics of various templating approaches, with another user suggesting that the performance concerns might be negligible in many real-world scenarios. The maintainability of generated code is also raised as a potential issue.

  Another thread of discussion revolves around the choice of Ruby as the implementation language for Herb. One commenter expresses a desire for similar tooling in other languages, specifically mentioning Elixir. This leads to a brief discussion about the availability (or lack thereof) of comparable tools in different ecosystems.

  A few users share their personal experiences and workflows related to templating languages, offering alternative approaches and suggesting potential integrations with other tools. One user mentions using a custom DSL for templates, highlighting the benefits of a domain-specific approach.

  Overall, the comments reflect a generally positive reception of Herb, acknowledging its potential to improve the developer experience when working with ERB templates. However, some pragmatic concerns regarding performance and the broader applicability of the tool are also voiced.

• Phlex for Rails Emails: Action Mailer Without ERB

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  Posted: 2025-03-03 08:20:45

  Verbose tl;dr

  The blog post explores using Phlex, a Ruby HTML templating library, as a replacement for ERB in Rails Action Mailer. It highlights Phlex's component-based approach, allowing for reusable email templates and a more organized code structure compared to traditional ERB files. The author demonstrates how to set up Phlex within a Rails project, including configuration adjustments and creating view components specifically for emails. They showcase the benefits of using Phlex, like cleaner syntax, improved maintainability through component reusability, and a more intuitive way to manage email layouts and partials. Ultimately, the post positions Phlex as a modern alternative to ERB for building emails in Rails, offering a more streamlined and manageable development experience.

  Camillo Visini's blog post, "Phlex for Rails Emails: Action Mailer Without ERB," explores leveraging the Phlex library as a modern alternative to traditional ERB templates for crafting email views within Ruby on Rails applications. Visini begins by highlighting the drawbacks of using ERB for emails, citing its verbosity, susceptibility to cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities due to implicit output, and general lack of elegance when compared to contemporary view rendering approaches. He positions Phlex, a component-based view library inspired by React and ViewComponent, as a superior solution, emphasizing its inherent security due to explicit output, enhanced code organization through reusable components, and improved developer experience.

  The post then provides a detailed walkthrough of integrating Phlex into a Rails project for email generation. This includes installing the necessary gem, configuring Action Mailer to utilize Phlex views, and creating a sample mailer class and corresponding Phlex component. Visini meticulously demonstrates the process of constructing the email view using Phlex's component syntax, showcasing how to incorporate dynamic content, handle styling with Tailwind CSS, and embed images. He specifically illustrates how to inline CSS using the tailwindcss-rails gem for email client compatibility.

  Further elaborating on the benefits of Phlex, Visini emphasizes the ability to encapsulate complex email layouts into reusable components, fostering maintainability and reducing code duplication. He also illustrates how previewing emails during development is streamlined with Phlex, integrating seamlessly with existing Rails tooling. The author provides specific code examples for creating previews, enabling developers to visually inspect email rendering without sending actual emails.

  Visini concludes by advocating for the adoption of Phlex for email templating in Rails applications, arguing that it represents a significant improvement over the aging ERB paradigm. He highlights the improved security, code organization, and developer experience as compelling reasons to make the switch. The overall tone suggests a strong endorsement of Phlex as a forward-thinking solution for modernizing the email development workflow within the Rails ecosystem.

  • Ruby on Rails
  • rails
  • Action Mailer
  • Email Templates
  • Phlex
  • HTML Templating
  • View Components
  • ERB
  • ruby
  • Web Development
  • Frontend Development
  • Backend Development
  • Email Development

  Summary of Comments ( 14 )
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43239526

  Verbose tl;dr

  HN users generally expressed interest in Phlex as an alternative to ERB for Rails email templating, praising its cleaner syntax and potential performance benefits due to compiled templates. Some questioned the practicality of another templating language, citing the existing ecosystem around ERB and the learning curve involved. Others noted that while Phlex offered improvements, the article's benchmark showing only a 20% improvement wasn't compelling enough to justify switching. There was also discussion around the complexity of view components within emails and whether Phlex sufficiently addressed those challenges. Finally, some users compared Phlex to other templating options like Slim and wondered about the real-world performance difference, especially within the context of email rendering where other factors might dominate performance.

  The Hacker News post titled "Phlex for Rails Emails: Action Mailer Without ERB" has a moderate number of comments discussing the merits and drawbacks of using Phlex, a Ruby view component library, as a replacement for ERB in Rails email templates.

  Several commenters express enthusiasm for Phlex, praising its cleaner syntax and the benefits of component-based view rendering. One commenter specifically highlights the advantage of using view components for email layouts, making them easier to manage and reuse across different email types. Another user appreciates the improved testability that comes with Phlex components, allowing for more robust and reliable email templates. The general sentiment among these positive comments is that Phlex offers a more modern and maintainable approach to building email templates in Rails compared to traditional ERB.

  However, some commenters also raise concerns and offer alternative perspectives. One user questions the necessity of introducing another library, suggesting that sticking with ERB might be simpler, especially for less complex email templates. Another commenter points out that while Phlex might be suitable for emails with complex layouts, it might be overkill for simpler transactional emails. There's a brief discussion about the learning curve associated with adopting Phlex and whether the benefits outweigh the initial investment in learning a new tool. One commenter mentions using mjml as an alternative for email templating and expresses satisfaction with its performance.

  A couple of commenters delve into more technical aspects, discussing the challenges of styling emails and ensuring cross-client compatibility. One user expresses skepticism about Phlex's ability to handle the complexities of email styling, citing the limitations imposed by various email clients.

  Overall, the comments section reflects a mixed reception to using Phlex for Rails emails. While some are excited about its potential, others remain hesitant, preferring the familiarity and simplicity of ERB or alternative templating solutions. The discussion highlights the trade-offs involved in adopting a new technology and the importance of considering the specific needs of a project when choosing an email templating approach.