Jade > HAML… or why I use Jade more than I ever used HAML

Years later the landscape has definitely shifted. It’s not just about writing human readable code. It’s about semantic markup and accessibility compliance. These shorthand languages provide a system for reducing hacks in the markup and provide templates for a larger application.

It’s 2014 and I’m looking at Jade as a shorthand HTML markup language and… well… I actually like using it. The syntax is very much like HAML but I find it so much more digestible. Why? Probably because it writes like JavaScript and not Ruby. I spend a lot of time in JavaScript land so the syntax just works for me. There’s no % all over the place.

doctype html
html(lang="en")
	head
		title="selino"
		link(rel='stylesheet', href='index.css')
	body
		#container.flex-con
			p Item 1
			p Item 2
			p Item 3
			p Item 4
			p Item 5
			p Item 6
			p Item 7
			p Item 8
			p Item 1
			p Item 2
			p Item 3
			p Item 4
			p Item 5
			p Item 6
			p Item 7
			p Item 8
	script(src="js/reload.js")
	script(src="js/prefixfree.min.js")

The real sell for me was the ability to throw JS conditionals into the mix. I love JavaScript so it feels like home.

if youAreUsingJade
        p You are amazing
      else
        p Get on it!

#haml #jade #javascript #templating