Mozilla says Web components consist of three main technologies:
Is number 3, "HTML templates", even necessary in light of ECMAscript's Template Literals?
Look at this example I got from James Milner:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Web Component</title>
<script type="text/javascript">
// We define an ES6 class that extends HTMLElement
class CounterElement extends HTMLElement{
constructor() {
super();
// Initialise the counter value
this.counter = 0;
// We attach an open shadow root to the custom element
const shadowRoot= this.attachShadow({mode: 'open'});
// We define some inline styles using a template string
const styles=`
:host {
position: relative;
font-family: sans-serif;
}
#counter-increment, #counter-decrement {
width: 60px;
height: 30px;
margin: 20px;
background: none;
border: 1px solid black;
}
#counter-value {
font-weight: bold;
}
`;
// We provide the shadow root with some HTML
shadowRoot.innerHTML = `
<style>${styles}</style>
<h3>Counter</h3>
<slot name='counter-content'>Button</slot>
<button id='counter-increment'> - </button>
<span id='counter-value'> 0 </span>
<button id='counter-decrement'> + </button>
`;
// We can query the shadow root for internal elements
// in this case the button
this.incrementButton = this.shadowRoot.querySelector('#counter-increment');
this.decrementButton = this.shadowRoot.querySelector('#counter-decrement');
this.counterValue = this.shadowRoot.querySelector('#counter-value');
// We can bind an event which references one of the class methods
this.incrementButton.addEventListener("click", this.decrement.bind(this));
this.decrementButton.addEventListener("click", this.increment.bind(this));
}
increment() {
this.counter++
this.invalidate();
}
decrement() {
this.counter--
this.invalidate();
}
// Call when the counter changes value
invalidate() {
this.counterValue.innerHTML = this.counter;
}
}
// This is where the actual element is defined for use in the DOM
customElements.define('counter-element', CounterElement);
</script>
</head>
<body>
<counter-element></counter-element>
</body>
</html>
Notice how he doesn't use an HTML template, but instead uses an ecmascript template literal to set the innerHTML of the shadowRoot.
After this, he uses querySelector to get internal elements of the shadowRoot and he ultimately adds event listeners to the increment and decrement buttons.
If you were to use a HTML template, instead of an ecmascript template literal, what does this gain you?
Conceptually, I'm struggling to find a situation where I'd prefer an HTML Template Element over an Ecmascript Template Literal.
Please advise.
