// <p>Hello, my name is Alan. I am from Somewhere, TX. I have 2 kids:</p>
// <ul>
// <li>Jimmy is 12</li>
// <li>Sally is 4</li>
// </ul>
```
Full documentation and more examples are at [handlebarsjs.com](http://handlebarsjs.com/).
Precompiling Templates
----------------------
Handlebars allows templates to be precompiled and included as javascript code rather than the handlebars template allowing for faster startup time. Full details are located [here](http://handlebarsjs.com/precompilation.html).
Differences Between Handlebars.js and Mustache
----------------------------------------------
Handlebars.js adds a couple of additional features to make writing
templates easier and also changes a tiny detail of how partials work.
Block expressions have the same syntax as mustache sections but should not be confused with one another. Sections are akin to an implicit `each` or `with` statement depending on the input data and helpers are explicit pieces of code that are free to implement whatever behavior they like. The [mustache spec](http://mustache.github.io/mustache.5.html) defines the exact behavior of sections. In the case of name conflicts, helpers are given priority.
### Compatibility
There are a few Mustache behaviors that Handlebars does not implement.
- Handlebars deviates from Mustache slightly in that it does not perform recursive lookup by default. The compile time `compat` flag must be set to enable this functionality. Users should note that there is a performance cost for enabling this flag. The exact cost varies by template, but it's recommended that performance sensitive operations should avoid this mode and instead opt for explicit path references.
- The optional Mustache-style lambdas are not supported. Instead Handlebars provides its own lambda resolution that follows the behaviors of helpers.
- Alternative delimiters are not supported.
Supported Environments
----------------------
Handlebars has been designed to work in any ECMAScript 3 environment. This includes
- Node.js
- Chrome
- Firefox
- Safari 5+
- Opera 11+
- IE 6+
Older versions and other runtimes are likely to work but have not been formally
tested. The compiler requires `JSON.stringify` to be implemented natively or via a polyfill. If using the precompiler this is not necessary.
[![Selenium Test Status](https://saucelabs.com/browser-matrix/handlebars.svg)](https://saucelabs.com/u/handlebars)
Performance
-----------
In a rough performance test, precompiled Handlebars.js templates (in
the original version of Handlebars.js) rendered in about half the
time of Mustache templates. It would be a shame if it were any other
way, since they were precompiled, but the difference in architecture
does have some big performance advantages. Justin Marney, a.k.a.
[gotascii](http://github.com/gotascii), confirmed that with an
[independent test](http://sorescode.com/2010/09/12/benchmarks.html). The
rewritten Handlebars (current version) is faster than the old version,
with many [performance tests](https://travis-ci.org/wycats/handlebars.js/builds/33392182#L538) being 5 to 7 times faster than the Mustache equivalent.
Upgrading
---------
See [release-notes.md](https://github.com/wycats/handlebars.js/blob/master/release-notes.md) for upgrade notes.
Known Issues
------------
See [FAQ.md](https://github.com/wycats/handlebars.js/blob/master/FAQ.md) for known issues and common pitfalls.
Handlebars in the Wild
----------------------
* [Assemble](http://assemble.io), by [@jonschlinkert](https://github.com/jonschlinkert)
and [@doowb](https://github.com/doowb), is a static site generator that uses Handlebars.js
as its template engine.
* [Cory](https://github.com/leo/cory), by [@leo](https://github.com/leo), is another tiny static site generator
* [CoSchedule](http://coschedule.com) An editorial calendar for WordPress that uses Handlebars.js
* [dashbars](https://github.com/pismute/dashbars) A modern helper library for Handlebars.js.
* [Ember.js](http://www.emberjs.com) makes Handlebars.js the primary way to
structure your views, also with automatic data binding support.
* [Ghost](https://ghost.org/) Just a blogging platform.
* [handlebars_assets](http://github.com/leshill/handlebars_assets): A Rails Asset Pipeline gem
from Les Hill (@leshill).
* [handlebars-helpers](https://github.com/assemble/handlebars-helpers) is an extensive library
with 100+ handlebars helpers.
* [handlebars-layouts](https://github.com/shannonmoeller/handlebars-layouts) is a set of helpers which implement extendible and embeddable layout blocks as seen in other popular templating languages.
* [hbs](http://github.com/donpark/hbs): An Express.js view engine adapter for Handlebars.js,
from Don Park.
* [koa-hbs](https://github.com/jwilm/koa-hbs): [koa](https://github.com/koajs/koa) generator based
renderer for Handlebars.js.
* [jblotus](http://github.com/jblotus) created [http://tryhandlebarsjs.com](http://tryhandlebarsjs.com)
for anyone who would like to try out Handlebars.js in their browser.
* [jQuery plugin](http://71104.github.io/jquery-handlebars/): allows you to use
Handlebars.js with [jQuery](http://jquery.com/).
* [Lumbar](http://walmartlabs.github.io/lumbar) provides easy module-based template management for
handlebars projects.
* [Marionette.Handlebars](https://github.com/hashchange/marionette.handlebars) adds support for Handlebars and Mustache templates to Marionette.
* [sammy.js](http://github.com/quirkey/sammy) by Aaron Quint, a.k.a. quirkey,
supports Handlebars.js as one of its template plugins.
* [SproutCore](http://www.sproutcore.com) uses Handlebars.js as its main
templating engine, extending it with automatic data binding support.
* [YUI](http://yuilibrary.com/yui/docs/handlebars/) implements a port of handlebars
* [Swag](https://github.com/elving/swag) by [@elving](https://github.com/elving) is a growing collection of helpers for handlebars.js. Give your handlebars.js templates some swag son!
* [DOMBars](https://github.com/blakeembrey/dombars) is a DOM-based templating engine built on the Handlebars parser and runtime **DEPRECATED**
* [promised-handlebars](https://github.com/nknapp/promised-handlebars) is a wrapper for Handlebars that allows helpers to return Promises.
* [just-handlebars-helpers](https://github.com/leapfrogtechnology/just-handlebars-helpers) A fully tested lightweight package with common Handlebars helpers.
External Resources
------------------
* [Gist about Synchronous and asynchronous loading of external handlebars templates](https://gist.github.com/2287070)
Have a project using Handlebars? Send us a [pull request][pull-request]!