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MintyPHP Template

Simple yet powerful Jinja-like templating system for HTML written in PHP.

See: https://www.tqdev.com/2026-jinja-templating-engine-html-php/

Overview

MintyPHP's Template engine provides a simple yet powerful Jinja-like templating system with variable interpolation, control structures, filters, and expression evaluation. Templates are HTML-safe by default with automatic escaping.

Requirements

• PHP 8+

Installation

Add a dependency with Composer:

Usage

BNF Syntax

Operators

Arithmetic Operators

• + Addition (also string concatenation)
• - Subtraction
• * Multiplication
• / Division
• % Modulo

Comparison Operators

• == Equal
• != Not equal
• < Less than
• > Greater than
• <= Less than or equal
• >= Greater than or equal

Logical Operators

• and, && Logical AND
• or, || Logical OR
• not Logical NOT (unary)

Operator Precedence (highest to lowest)

1. not (unary)
2. *, /, %
3. +, -
4. <, >, <=, >=
5. ==, !=
6. and, &&
7. or, ||

Features

• Variable interpolation with {{ }} syntax
• Control structures with {% %} syntax (if/elseif/else, for loops)
• Template inheritance with {% extends %} and {% block %}
• Template inclusion with {% include %}
• Comments with {# #} syntax
• Expression evaluation with full operator support
• Filters with pipe syntax |
• Builtin filters for common transformations
• Tests with is keyword for value checking
• Nested data access with dot notation
• HTML escaping by default
• Raw output with raw filter
• Custom filters and tests

Examples

Example 1: Basic Variable Interpolation

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 2: HTML Escaping

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 3: Conditional Rendering

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 4: If-ElseIf-Else Chain

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 5: For Loops with Arrays

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 6: For Loops with Key-Value Pairs

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 7: Nested For Loops

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 8: Nested Data Access

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 9: Expressions in Variables

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 10: String Concatenation

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 11: Complex Conditions

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 12: For Loop with Conditionals

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 13: Comments

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 14: Blog Post List

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Example 15: Dashboard with Statistics

Data (JSON):

Template:

Output:

Template Inheritance

MintyPHP's template engine supports template inheritance through {% extends %} and {% block %} directives, allowing you to create reusable base templates.

Example: Base Template

base.html:

Example: Child Template

page.html:

Notes:

• {% extends %} must be the first non-whitespace element in the child template
• Blocks defined in the child completely replace blocks in the parent
• Blocks not overridden use the parent's default content
• Template inheritance requires a template loader function

Template Inclusion

Use {% include %} to insert another template at a specific point.

Example: Including Templates

header.html:

main.html:

Notes:

• Included templates share the same data context as the parent
• Requires a template loader function to be configured

Builtin Filters

MintyPHP includes comprehensive builtin filters for common transformations.

String Filters

lower

Convert to lowercase.

upper

Convert to uppercase.

capitalize

Capitalize first character.

title

Title case (capitalize each word).

trim

Remove leading/trailing whitespace.

truncate(length, end)

Truncate string to length (default 255, default end "...") without breaking words.

replace(old, new, count)

Replace substring occurrences.

split(separator)

Split string into array.

urlencode

URL-encode a string.

reverse

Reverse string or array.

Numeric Filters

abs

Absolute value.

round(precision, method)

Round number (default precision=0, method="common"). Available methods: common, ceil, floor, down, even/banker, odd, awayzero, tozero.

sprintf(format)

Format with sprintf.

filesizeformat(binary)

Format bytes as human-readable size.

Array/Collection Filters

length / count

Get count of items or string length.

first(n)

Get first item or first n items.

last(n)

Get last item or last n items.

join(separator, attribute)

Join array elements with separator.

sum(attribute)

Sum numeric values in array.

Utility Filters

default(value, boolean)

Return default if value is null (or falsy with boolean=true).

attr(name)

Get attribute by name.

debug / d

Pretty-print value as JSON for debugging.

raw

Output unescaped HTML (builtin).

Builtin Tests

Tests allow you to check properties of values using the is keyword in expressions.

Syntax

Available Tests

defined

Check if variable is defined.

undefined

Check if variable is undefined.

null

Check if value is null.

even

Check if number is even.

odd

Check if number is odd.

divisibleby(n)

Check if number is divisible by n.

number

Check if value is numeric.

string

Check if value is a string.

iterable

Check if value can be iterated.

Test Negation

Use is not to negate tests:

Custom Filters

Custom filters can be provided to the Template constructor.

PHP Usage Example:

Custom Tests

Custom tests can be provided as the third argument to the Template constructor.

PHP Usage Example:

Notes

• All output is HTML-escaped by default for security
• Use the raw filter to output unescaped HTML: {{ content|raw }}
• Whitespace in templates is generally preserved
• Lines containing only whitespace and a {% %} tag or {# #} comment are removed
• Expressions support parentheses for grouping: {{ (a + b) * c }}
• Paths use dot notation for nested access: {{ user.profile.name }}
• For loops can iterate with values only or with key-value pairs
• Comments are completely removed from output and don't affect whitespace
• Builtin filters are available automatically without configuration
• Tests use the is keyword: {% if value is defined %}

Template Inheritance Notes

• The {% extends %} directive must be the first non-whitespace element in a child template
• Template inheritance and {% include %} require a template loader function to be configured
• Child block content completely replaces parent block content
• Blocks not overridden in the child will use the parent's default content
• Blocks can be nested, and each can be independently overridden
• Variables, expressions, and all other template features work inside blocks

Configuration Example