Templates that read like PHP, and run as PHP.

1. Write

A template is HTML with three kinds of tags: {{ user.name }} prints, {% foreach items as item %} controls, {# … #} comments.

2. Compile

On first use, the template becomes a plain PHP file in the cache: user.name is $user->name, name|strtoupper is strtoupper($name). Line 14 stays line 14.

3. Render

Every render includes that PHP file, cached by OPcache. Nothing is interpreted at runtime. If something fails, the error points at your template file and line.

page.php · plain PHP · 7 lines

<?php ob_start() ?>
<h1>Hello, <?= htmlspecialchars(strtoupper($user->name), ENT_QUOTES) ?>!</h1>
<?php foreach ($items as $item): ?>
  <li><?= htmlspecialchars($item->title, ENT_QUOTES) ?> — <?= htmlspecialchars(number_format($item->price, 2), ENT_QUOTES) ?> €</li>
<?php endforeach ?>
<?php $content = ob_get_clean() ?>
<?php require 'layout.php' ?>

To know: escape every output by hand, wire the layout yourself with output buffering.

page.twig · Twig · 7 lines

{% extends "layout.twig" %}
{% block content %}
<h1>Hello, {{ user.name|upper }}!</h1>
{% for item in items %}
  <li>{{ item.title }} — {{ item.price|number_format(2) }} €</li>
{% endfor %}
{% endblock %}

To know: Twig's own language and filter names, attributes resolved at runtime, 3 dependencies, PHP 8.1+.

cache · what PurePlate runs

<?php $_plate->extend("layout.tpl"); ?>
<?php $this->startBlock('content'); ?>
<h1>Hello, <?php echo htmlspecialchars((string)(strtoupper($user->name)), ENT_QUOTES); ?>!</h1>
<?php foreach ($items as $item): ?>
  <li><?php echo htmlspecialchars((string)($item->title), ENT_QUOTES); ?> — …</li>
<?php endforeach; ?>
<?php $this->endblock(); ?>

To know: nothing. It is the plain PHP from the first card, escaped and wired for you.

Nothing to learn

A bare word is a variable, the dot is ->, the pipe calls a function. Everything else is written as in PHP, because it is PHP.

Every PHP function is a filter

strtoupper, number_format, substr, count, your own functions: all available, no registration, no wrappers.

Errors point at your template

In a page, a layout or an include, the exception's getFile() and getLine() are the template file and line, not the cache.

Fast, and safe by default

~2.4× faster than Twig 3 on the same page. {{ … }} is always escaped with htmlspecialchars.