What are some alternatives to using Smarty for templating in PHP applications, and what are the benefits of using these alternatives?

One alternative to using Smarty for templating in PHP applications is to use the native PHP templating engine. This allows you to directly embed PHP code within your HTML templates, providing more flexibility and control over your application's logic and presentation. Another alternative is to use a lightweight templating library like Plates or Twig, which offer similar features to Smarty but with a simpler syntax and better performance.

<?php
// Using native PHP templating engine
$templateData = ['name' => 'John Doe'];
include 'templates/my_template.php';

// Using Plates templating library
$templates = new League\Plates\Engine('templates');
echo $templates->render('my_template', ['name' => 'John Doe']);

// Using Twig templating library
$loader = new Twig_Loader_Filesystem('templates');
$twig = new Twig_Environment($loader);
echo $twig->render('my_template.twig', ['name' => 'John Doe']);