A gulp filter for compiling templates into JS source code. The resulting code may then be wrapped in a module or assigned to a namespace and concatenated.
Another template-compiling Gulp plugin? Why?
Many contributions exist in this area, but I have not been able to find the perfect solution for what I believe is a common AMD build workflow:
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Compile template source code into JS source code at build-time (no runtime compilation = faster client code)
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Wrap (gulp-wrap-amd) each compiled template in a module for inclusion in, for example, Backbone Views
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Optimize (amd-optimize) all AMD modules for a production environment (Almond).
Here are some of the noteworthy similar plugins:
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gulp-jade: Has support for exactly what I want to do, but only works on
JadePug templates. -
gulp-template-compile: Compiles Lo-Dash/Underscore Embedded JavaScript (EJS) templates to JS source, but does not support using templates as modules. Instead, templates are namespaced beneath a global variable (
JSTby default). -
gulp-ejs-precompiler: Same issue as gulp-template-compile.
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gulp-template: Renders EJS templates with data already inserted instead of precompiling them.
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gulp-ejs: Same issue as gulp-template.
A function that accepts a string representation of the template source code as its only argument and returns a function that, when supplied with a context object, produces a rendered template string.
Default: _.template, where _ is Lo-Dash, but resulting templates
should be fully compatible with Underscore
Compiling to JS is likely the most common use-case for this plugin, but in case the compiler outputs something different (see "Abuses" section below), this option can be used to change the output file's extension.
Default: .js
options.compiler can technically return anything: the result of calling
toString() is what gets written to the output file. Therefore, if a
String-to-String function is passed in, this filter can be used to modify
source code or cross-compile just about anything (hence this plugin's generic
name). For example, replacing "%VERSION%" with "1.0.0" in all source files.
Most web preprocessor languages already have gulp filters (e.g. gulp-jade,
gulp-coffee, gulp-less, gulp-sass to name a few): please use them
if they work for you! :-)