What is EJS Template Engine ?

Last Updated : 3 Sep, 2025

EJS Template Engine or EJS is a popular template engine for web development. it is used in Nodejs. It allows you to generate dynamic content by embedding JavaScript to HTML content. EJS serves as a templating language, utilizing plan javascript to HTML.

Features:

  • Template Reusability: Reuse common components with partials.
  • Data Escaping: Auto-escapes HTML to prevent XSS attacks.
  • Custom Delimiters: Allows flexible template syntax.

Syntax:

<h1>Hello, <%= username %></h1>

Why Choose EJS

EJS offers several advantages that make it a popular choice:

  • Ease of Integration: EJS easily integrates with Node.js applications, making it convenient for users already using JavaScript on the server side.
  • Familiar Syntax: Those who are comfortable with JavaScript will find EJS easy to grasp, as it allows them to use JavaScript directly within their HTML templates.
  • Robustness: EJS provides powerful features like loops, conditionals, and partials, allowing for complex template structures to be easily implemented.

How Does EJS Template Engine Work

  • Parses HTML files with embedded JavaScript.
  • Executes the JavaScript code to generate dynamic content.
  • Replaces embedded code with actual data.
  • Sends the final HTML markup to the client’s browser for rendering.

Steps to implement EJS in Node Application:

we are creating a `hello,world!` page using EJS engine. To create a simple "hello, world" page using EJS,you'll need to follow these steps:

Step 1: Create the folder in which you want to make EJS template.

mkdir ejs-template
cd ejs-template

Step 2: Initialize the Node application using the following command.

npm init -y

Step 3: Install the required dependencies:

npm install ejs express

Folder Structure:

ewrty

The updated dependencies in package.json file will :

"dependencies": {
    "ejs": "^3.1.9",
    "express": "^4.18.3"
}

Example: Create the required folders and files and add the required codes.

HTML 
<!-- views/index.ejs -->

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Hello, World!</title>
</head>

<body>
    <h1>
        <%= message %>
    </h1>
</body>

</html>
JavaScript 
//app.js

const express = require('express');
const app = express();

const port = 3000;

app.set('view engine', 'ejs');

app.set('views', __dirname + '/views');

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
    res.render('index', { message: 'Hello, World!' });
});

app.listen(port, () => {
    console.log(`Server is running at http://localhost:${port}`);
});

To start the server run the following command:

node app.js

Output:

Screenshot-from-2024-02-24-23-51-20
Hello,world! page uing EJS template engine
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