What are the Pros and Cons of Server Side Versus Client Side Templating

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Server Side Templating

  • Pros:
    • More search engine friendly.
    • Entire response message can be cached.
    • Can work without JavaScript
  • Cons:
    • Harder to mix and match different server side technologies. For example, retrieve data from both Java and Ruby based services
    • Harder to send content for multiple devices. E.g. browser, mobile devices, etc.

Client Side Templating

  • Pros:
    • Faster development and prototyping
    • Serves JSON data to multiple devices.
    • The responses are smaller as JSON data is less verbose.
    • Templates and JSON data can be cached.
    • Can work with multiple server side technologies like .Net, JEE, Ruby, etc
  • Cons:
    • Less search engine friendly
    • Older browsers may not work properly
    • Cross browser compatbility testing is required