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Handlebars Basics

Ember.js uses the Handlebars templating library to power your app's user interface. Handlebars templates are just like regular HTML, but also give you the ability to embed expressions that change what is displayed.

We take Handlebars and extend it with many powerful features. It may help to think of your Handlebars templates as an HTML-like DSL for describing the user interface of your app. And, once you've told Ember.js to render a given template on the screen, you don't need to write any additional code to make sure it keeps up-to-date.

If you'd prefer an indentation-based alternative to Handlebars syntax, try Emblem.js, but make sure you're comfortable with Handlebars first!

Defining Templates

If you're not using build tools, you can define your application's main template inside your HTML by putting it inside a <script> tag, like so:

<html>
  <body>
    <script type="text/x-handlebars">
      Hello, <strong>{{firstName}} {{lastName}}</strong>!
    </script>
  </body>
</html>

This template will be compiled automatically and become your application template, which will be displayed on the page when your app loads.

You can also define templates by name that can be used later. For example, you may want to define a reusable control that is used in many different places in your user interface. To tell Ember.js to save the template for later, instead of displaying it immediately, you can add the data-template-name attribute:

<html>
  <head>
    <script type="text/x-handlebars" data-template-name="say-hello">
      <div class="my-cool-control">{{name}}</div>
    </script>
  </head>
</html>

If you are using build tools to manage your application's assets, most will know how to precompile Handlebars templates and make them available to Ember.js.

Handlebars Expressions

Each template has an associated controller: this is where the template finds the properties that it displays.

You can display a property from your controller by wrapping the property name in curly braces, like this:

Hello, <strong>{{firstName}} {{lastName}}</strong>!

This would look up the firstName and lastName properties from the controller, insert them into the HTML described in the template, then put them into the DOM.

By default, your top-most application template is bound to your ApplicationController:

App.ApplicationController = Ember.Controller.extend({
  firstName: "Trek",
  lastName: "Glowacki"
});

The above template and controller would combine to display the following rendered HTML:

Hello, <strong>Trek Glowacki</strong>!

These expressions (and the other Handlebars features you will learn about next) are bindings aware. That means that if the values used by your templates ever change, your HTML will be updated automatically.

As your application grows in size, it will have many templates, each bound to different controllers.

Defining Templates
Handlebars Expressions