Server-Side Rendering

Table of Contents

• Overview
• When to Use
• Quick Start
• Reference Guides
• Best Practices

Overview

Build server-side rendered applications using modern template engines, view layers, and data-driven HTML generation with caching, streaming, and performance optimization across Python, Node.js, and Ruby frameworks.

When to Use

• Building traditional web applications
• Rendering HTML on the server
• Implementing SEO-friendly applications
• Creating real-time updating pages
• Building admin dashboards
• Implementing email templates

Quick Start

Minimal working example:

# app.py
from flask import Flask, render_template, request, jsonify
from datetime import datetime

app = Flask(__name__)

# Custom Jinja2 filters
@app.template_filter('currency')
def format_currency(value):
    return f"${value:.2f}"

@app.template_filter('date_format')
def format_date(date_obj):
    return date_obj.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')

@app.context_processor
def inject_globals():
    """Inject global variables into templates"""
    return {
        'app_name': 'My App',
        'current_year': datetime.now().year,
        'support_email': 'support@example.com'
    }

# routes.py
// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)

Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:

Guide	Contents
Flask with Jinja2 Templates	Flask with Jinja2 Templates
Jinja2 Template Examples	Jinja2 Template Examples
Node.js/Express with EJS Templates	Node.js/Express with EJS Templates
EJS Template Examples	EJS Template Examples
Caching and Performance	Caching and Performance
Django Template Examples	Django Template Examples
Django Templates	Django Templates

Best Practices

✅ DO

• Use template inheritance for DRY code
• Implement caching for frequently rendered pages
• Use template filters for formatting
• Separate concerns between views and templates
• Validate and sanitize all user input
• Use context processors for global variables
• Implement proper pagination
• Use conditional rendering appropriately
• Cache expensive queries
• Optimize template rendering

❌ DON'T

• Put business logic in templates
• Use unbounded loops in templates
• Execute database queries in templates
• Trust user input without sanitization
• Over-nest template inheritance
• Use very long template files
• Render sensitive data in templates
• Ignore template caching opportunities
• Use global variables excessively
• Mix multiple concerns in one template