Reworked the way that expression work a good bit. They're a lot less error prone now.

lib/handlebars.js

@@ -78,23 +78,28 @@ var Handlebars = {
     return compiled;
   },
 
+  evalExpression: function(path, context, stack) {
+    var parsedPath = Handlebars.parsePath(path);
+    var depth = parsedPath[0];
+    var parts = parsedPath[1];
+    if (depth > stack.length) {
+      context = null;
+    } else if (depth > 0) {
+      context = stack[stack.length - depth];
+    }
+
+    for (var i = 0; i < parts.length && context !== undefined; i++) {
+      context = context[parts[i]];
+    }
+
+    return context;
+  },
+
   buildContext: function(context, stack) {
     var ContextWrapper = function(stack) { 
       this.__stack__ = stack.slice(0);
       this.__get__ = function(path) {
-        var context = this;
-        var parsedPath = Handlebars.parsePath(path);
-        var depth = parsedPath[0];
-        var parts = parsedPath[1];
-        if (depth > 0) {
-          context = this.__stack__[this.__stack__.length - depth];
-        }
-
-        for (var i = 0; i < parts.length; i++) {
-          context = context[parts[i]];
-        }
-
-        return context;
+        return Handlebars.evalExpression(path, this, this.__stack__);
       };
     };
 
@@ -102,13 +107,18 @@ var Handlebars = {
     return new ContextWrapper(stack);
   },
 
-  // Returns a two element array containing the numbers of contexts to back up the stack and
+  // spot to memoize paths to speed up loops and subsequent parses
+  pathPatterns: {},
+
+  // returns a two element array containing the numbers of contexts to back up the stack and
   // the properties to dig into on the current context
   //
-  // For example, if the path is "../../alan/name", the result will be [2, ["alan", "name"]].
+  // for example, if the path is "../../alan/name", the result will be [2, ["alan", "name"]].
   parsePath: function(path) {
     if (path == null) {
       return [0, []];
+    } else if (Handlebars.pathPatterns[path] != null) {
+      return Handlebars.pathPatterns[path];
     }
 
     var parts = path.split("/");
@@ -134,8 +144,10 @@ var Handlebars = {
           dig.push(parts[i]);
       }
     }
-
-    return [depth, dig];
+   
+    var ret = [depth, dig];
+    Handlebars.pathPatterns[path] = ret;
+    return ret;
   },
 
   isEmpty: function(value) {
@@ -180,6 +192,7 @@ var Handlebars = {
 
   handleExpression: function(lookup, context, arg, isEscaped) {
     var out = "";
+
     if (Handlebars.isFunction(lookup)) {
       out = out + Handlebars.filterOutput(lookup.call(context, arg), isEscaped);
     } else if(!Handlebars.isEmpty(lookup)) {
@@ -330,15 +343,12 @@ Handlebars.Compiler.prototype = {
     var depth = parsed[0];
     var parts = parsed[1];
 
-    var paramExpr = "";
-    for(var i = 0; i < parts.length; i++) {
-      paramExpr += "['" + parts[i] + "']";
-    }
-
-    if (depth > 0) {
-      return "( stack[stack.length - " + depth + "]" + paramExpr + ")";
+    if (depth > 0 || parts.length > 1) {
+      return "(Handlebars.evalExpression('" + param + "', context, stack))";
+    } else if (parts.length == 1) {
+      return "(context['" + parts[0] + "'] || fallback['" + parts[0] + "'])";
     } else {
-      return "( context" + paramExpr + " != null ? context" + paramExpr + " : fallback" + paramExpr + " )";
+      return "(context || fallback)";
     }
   },
 

test/handlebars.js

@@ -103,6 +103,11 @@ test("bad idea nested paths", function() {
   shouldCompileTo(string, hash, "world world world ", "Same context (.) is ignored in paths");
 });
 
+test("complex but empty paths", function() {
+  shouldCompileTo("{{person/name}}", {person: {name: null}}, "");
+  shouldCompileTo("{{person/name}}", {person: {}}, "");
+});
+
 test("this keyword in paths", function() {
   var string = "{{#goodbyes}}{{this}}{{/goodbyes}}";
   var hash = {goodbyes: ["goodbye", "Goodbye", "GOODBYE"]};