When comparing Z Template vs Dust.js, the Slant community recommends Dust.js for most people. In the question“What are the best JavaScript templating engines?” Dust.js is ranked 9th while Z Template is ranked 23rd. The most important reason people chose Dust.js is:
Easily extendable using filters and helpers. Can consume any public API.
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Pros
Pro Z Template offers a well-designed syntax that is both simple and comprehensive, providing web developers with everything they need to build HTML UI from JSON data or other data structures, without any dependencies
Z Template has a minimalistic syntax that makes it easy to read and understand, even for developers who are new to the platform.
It has a small footprint and does not require any external dependencies, which makes it lightweight and efficient.
The platform is specifically designed for building HTML UIs from data sources like JSON, which makes it ideal for dynamic and data-driven applications.
Z Template also offers a high degree of flexibility, allowing developers to update the UI in real-time as data changes. This makes it a great solution for applications that require real-time updates and data visualization.
Pro Filters
Easily extendable using filters and helpers. Can consume any public API.
Pro Cache templates at the client side
Dust.js compiles its templates to plain old javascript, and since javascript files are cacheable, that essentially means your templates can be cached at the client side.
Pro Write once run anywhere
Since Dust's templates are written in JS, there's nothing stopping you from running the same DustJS code both on the client as well as server side (if it supports V8/Rhino JS engine).
Pro Interactive tutorial
Dust.js is quite easy to begin with, thanks to it's powerful interactive tutorial.
Cons
Con There are no new releases
And apparently Linkedin will not support it more.
Con Not enough community support
Since the number of people currently using Dust.js is quite insignificant as compared to Mustache js and Handlebars, you're less likely to get your question answered or issue resolved if you start using it.