Getting Started With Jinja: A Beginner’s Guide

Have you ever wanted to create a dynamic website or application using Python? Look no further than Jinja, a popular templating engine that allows developers to create programmatic content that can be dynamically generated based on data.

In this beginner’s guide, we will explore the basics of using Jinja without a web framework, as well as how to integrate it with Flask, a popular web framework for Python.

Using Jinja Without a Web Framework

Jinja is a powerful and easy-to-use template engine that can be used to generate HTML, XML, and other markup languages. You can use Jinja without a web framework by creating templates and rendering them with Python code.

To get started, you will need to install Jinja using pip, a package manager for Python:

pip install jinja2

Once you have installed Jinja, you can create a template by creating a new file with a .jinja2 extension and using Jinja syntax to define the layout and content of your template. For example, let’s say you want to create a template that displays a list of items.

You could create a file named items.jinja2 with the following markup:

{% for item in items %}
  
{{ item }}
{% endfor %}

In this example, we are using a for loop to iterate over a list of items and display them as a list. The {{ }} syntax is used to output the value of a variable.

To render the template with a Python script, you will need to define the variables and call the render method of the Jinja environment:

from jinja2 import Environment, FileSystemLoader

env = Environment(loader=FileSystemLoader('.'))
template = env.get_template('items.jinja2')
items = ['apple', 'banana', 'orange']
output = template.render(items=items)

print(output)

In this example, we are loading the template from the current directory using the FileSystemLoader and passing a list of items to the render method. The output will be the rendered HTML markup.

Using an External File as a Template

Jinja also allows you to use external files as templates, which can make it easier to manage and reuse templates across multiple pages. To use an external file as a template, you can create a file with a .html extension and use Jinja syntax to define the content of the template.

For example, let’s say you want to create a base template that contains common elements across all pages of your website. You could create a file named base.html with the following markup:

  


  
  {% block content %}{% endblock %}

In this example, we are using Jinja’s block tags to define areas of the template that can be overridden in child templates.

We are also defining a {% block title %}{% endblock %} tag that can be overridden with a page-specific title. To create a child template that extends the base template, you can use the {% extends "base.html" %} tag and define the content of the page using the {% block content %}{% endblock %} tags.

For example, let’s say you want to create a page about your company. You could create a file named about.html with the following markup:

{% extends "base.html" %}
{% block title %}About Us{% endblock %}
{% block content %}
About Us
We are a small company that specializes in Python development.
{% endblock %}

In this example, we are extending the base.html template and defining a custom title and content for the page.

Control the Flow in Jinja

Jinja also allows you to control the flow of your templates using if statements and for loops.

Use if Statements

To use if statements in Jinja, you can use the {% if %} and {% elif %} tags to define conditional statements. For example, let’s say you want to display a message to the user if they are logged in:

{% if user %}
  Welcome back, {{ user }}!
{% else %}
  Login
{% endif %}

In this example, we are using an if statement to check if the user variable is defined.

If it is, we display a welcome message. If it is not, we display a link to the login page.

Leverage for Loops

To use for loops in Jinja, you can use the {% for %} and {% endfor %} tags to iterate over a collection of items. For example, let’s say you want to display a list of blog posts:

{% for post in posts %}
  
{{ post.title }}
{% endfor %}

In this example, we are using a for loop to iterate over a list of blog posts and display them as links.

Each link points to a page that displays the full content of the post.

Use Jinja With Flask

Flask is a popular web framework for Python that makes it easy to build web applications. Flask comes with built-in support for Jinja, which makes it easy to use Jinja templates to generate dynamic content.

Install Flask

To get started with Flask, you will need to install it using pip:

pip install flask

Once you have installed Flask, you can create a new Flask application by creating a new Python file and importing the Flask class:

from flask import Flask

app = Flask(__name__)

Add a Base Template

To use Jinja templates in Flask, you will need to create a templates folder in your project directory and add your templates to this folder. To add a base template to your Flask application, you can create a file named base.html in the templates folder and define the content of the template using Jinja syntax.

For example:

  


  
  {% block content %}{% endblock %}

In this example, we are defining a base template that contains a navigation bar and allows child templates to define a custom title and content. To render the base template in a Flask view, you can use the render_template function provided by Flask:

from flask import render_template

@app.route('/')
def index():
  return render_template('base.html')

In this example, we are defining a view that renders the base.html template using the render_template function.

Add Another Page

To add a dynamic page to your Flask application, you can create a new template and define a new route in your Flask application. For example, let’s say you want to create a page that displays a list of blog posts.

You could create a file named posts.html in the templates folder with the following markup:

{% extends "base.html" %}
{% block title %}Blog Posts{% endblock %}
{% block content %}
Blog Posts

{% for post in posts %}
  
{{ post.title }}
{% endfor %}

{% endblock %}

In this example, we are extending the base.html template and defining a custom title and content for the page. To define a route for the posts page in your Flask application, you can use the @app.route decorator:

from flask import render_template

@app.route('/')
def index():
  return render_template('base.html')

@app.route('/posts')
def posts():
  posts = [
    {'id': 1, 'title': 'First Post'},
    {'id': 2, 'title': 'Second Post'},
    {'id': 3, 'title': 'Third Post'}
  ]
  return render_template('posts.html', posts=posts)

In this example, we are defining a route for the posts page that creates a list of blog posts and passes them to the posts.html template using the render_template function.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Jinja is a powerful templating engine that can be used to generate dynamic content in Python web applications. Whether you are using it without a web framework or integrating it with Flask, Jinja makes it easy to create programmatic content that can be dynamically generated based on data.

With the ability to control flow using if statements and for loops, as well as integrating external files as templates, the possibilities are endless with Jinja. In conclusion, Jinja is a powerful templating engine that can be used to create programmatic content in Python web applications.

This beginner’s guide covered the basics of using Jinja without a web framework and how to integrate it with Flask. We also discussed how to use if statements and for loops to control flow in Jinja.

Whether you are creating a dynamic website or application, Jinja provides endless possibilities for creating dynamic content. By following the tips and examples provided in this guide, you can start using Jinja to create more efficient and user-friendly Python applications.