Consider Integrating Jinja2 for Enhanced Templating and Transformations

[MisterGC]

Description

Evaluate the potential benefits and feasibility of integrating Jinja2 into our YAML processing workflow. This could potentially replace or complement our current built-in transformation functions and YamlTransformer, offering more powerful and flexible templating capabilities.

Potential Benefits

• More powerful templating features (loops, conditionals, macros)
• Simplified and more declarative approach to transformations
• Improved performance through template caching
• Better consistency with other Python projects
• Enhanced extensibility through custom filters and functions

Considerations

• Learning curve for users familiar with the current system
• Ensuring all current functionality can be replicated
• Potential performance implications for very large or complex transformations
• Maintaining backwards compatibility

Possible Approaches

1. Full replacement of current templating system with Jinja2
2. Hybrid approach: Integrate Jinja2 while retaining custom Python functions for edge cases
3. Gradual integration: Start with simple substitutions, then expand to more complex transformations

Next Steps

• Research Jinja2 capabilities and limitations in context of our use cases
• Create proof-of-concept implementation
• Evaluate impact on existing codebase and user workflows
• Gather feedback from team and potential users

Related

• Current templating system
• YamlTransformer class
• Built-in transformation functions