well i think that article explains much much better what i was talking about...
now don't get me wrong... i'm all about templating.. but just not about using a template engine.... every thing you said i agree with except writing a template engine
the concept of using templates should be present: but to use a large template parser is usually not needed.
also i'm not saying you (Jayson) are a dummy-head and should rewrite your site... it's fine you have one that works for you... and it seems that you know it well since you wrote it and it probably speeds development up many times like you said... but i don't believe using a prebuilt template engine is THE answer for everyone....
here is an example of what i am talking about, useing php and the templating concept you can do this, which should encapsulate all the ideas you talked about Jayson but without the use of one [man]eregi[/man] or [man]str_replace[/man]
if you wanna fight more: we could break out the speed test!!!
<?php
# INDEX.PHP
# set up some variables in local namespace
$product_name = 'foo';
$product_price = 10.00;
$product_list = array( 'a', 'b', 'c' );
# pretty print our variables
print "<pre>";
print '$product_name = ';
print_r($product_name);
print '<br>$product_price = ';
print_r($product_price);
print '<br>$product_list = ';
print_r($product_list);
print "</pre>";
# call two php templates who assume variables to act upon
print "<u>TEMPLATE 1</u><br>";
include './product1.tmpl.php';
print "<br><br>";
print "<u>TEMPLATE 2</u><br>";
include './product2.tmpl.php';
?>
<?php
# PRODUCT1.TMPL.PHP
# assumes $product_name, $product_price, $product_list in local namespace
?>
<br>
<table border="1">
<tr><td>NAME</td><td><?php echo $product_name ?></td></tr>
<tr><td>PRICE</td><td>$<?php echo $product_price ?></td></tr>
<?php foreach ( $product_list as $item ) { ?>
<tr><td>List Item</td><td><?php echo $item ?></td></tr>
<?php } ?>
</table>
<?php
# PRODUCT2.TMPL.PHP
# assumes $product_name, $product_price, $product_list in local namespace
?>
<ul>
<li>NAME : <?php echo $product_name ?></li>
<li>PRICE : <?php echo $product_price ?></li>
<li>LIST :<ol>
<?php foreach ( $product_list as $item ) { ?>
<li><?php echo $item ?></li>
<?php } ?>
</ol></li>
</table>
