Pug

Master Pug (formerly Jade) with guides on syntax, variables, mixins, and templates. Learn how to integrate Pug with Express.js, optimize for SEO, and manage layouts. Explore advanced techniques and best practices for building efficient, maintainable web applications with Pug.

Pug
Photo by Fotis Fotopoulos / Unsplash

Pug (formerly known as Jade) is a high-performance templating engine for Node.js, designed to simplify the process of writing HTML by providing an elegant, concise, and powerful syntax. Pug allows developers to create clean, maintainable templates with less code, making it easier to manage HTML structures and dynamic content generation.

Whether you're new to Pug or looking to improve your workflow, this page will guide you through everything you need to know to get started with Pug, optimize your usage, and build high-quality web applications.

What You’ll Find Here:

  • Introduction to Pug: Learn what Pug is, its features, and why it’s useful for simplifying HTML writing. Understand the evolution from Jade to Pug and how it improves your web development process.
  • Setting Up Pug: Discover how to install and set up Pug in your Node.js project, including how to configure it with popular frameworks like Express.js for server-side rendering.
  • Pug Syntax: Understand Pug's clean, indentation-based syntax that eliminates the need for closing tags. Learn how to define elements, attributes, and content in Pug's unique style.
  • Variables and Data in Pug: Learn how to pass dynamic data and variables from your server-side code into Pug templates to generate content dynamically based on user interactions or data.
  • Pug Mixins: Discover how to create reusable chunks of HTML with Pug mixins, allowing you to define templates that can be reused across multiple pages or parts of your site.
  • Loops and Conditionals in Pug: Learn how to use loops (like each) and conditionals (like if, unless) to generate content dynamically based on conditions or data passed into the template.
  • Pug Includes and Partials: Explore how to use include and extends to break your templates into reusable parts, such as headers, footers, and navigation bars, making your code cleaner and more maintainable.
  • Pug Filters: Understand how to use filters in Pug to process content before it is rendered, such as converting Markdown, escaping HTML characters, or applying custom transformations.
  • Pug and CSS: Learn how to integrate Pug with CSS and CSS preprocessors like Sass or LESS to streamline your front-end development workflow.
  • Working with Pug Layouts: Understand how to create layouts in Pug, where you can define a common structure for your pages and dynamically insert content in specific sections.
  • Debugging Pug Templates: Learn common issues you may encounter while working with Pug and how to debug them effectively using tools like console.log or Pug's error messages.
  • SEO Optimization for Pug: Understand how to optimize your Pug templates for search engines by structuring your HTML for better accessibility and SEO performance.
  • Integrating Pug with Express.js: Learn how to integrate Pug with Express.js for server-side rendering, passing dynamic data to views, and creating full-fledged web applications.
  • Pug for Single-Page Applications (SPAs): Explore how to use Pug in conjunction with front-end frameworks like React, Vue, or Angular to render templates and manage dynamic content in modern web apps.
  • Pug Best Practices: Discover best practices for writing clean, maintainable, and efficient Pug code, including structuring your templates, using proper indentation, and keeping your code DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself).
  • Advanced Pug Techniques: Dive deeper into advanced Pug techniques like creating custom filters, mixin inheritance, and working with complex page layouts and nested templates.
  • Pug with Webpack and Gulp: Learn how to set up Pug in your build process using tools like Webpack or Gulp, enabling automatic compilation of Pug files into HTML during development.

Pug is a powerful templating engine that streamlines HTML writing and is used widely for building dynamic web applications. Whether you're creating simple websites or complex server-side rendered applications, Pug provides the tools and flexibility to manage your templates efficiently.