Fix expression concatenation in attribute values

- Lexer now emits a single token for the entire expression (e.g., "btn btn-" + type)
- Runtime evaluateExpression now handles + operator for string concatenation
- Added findConcatOperator to safely find operators outside quotes/brackets

src/examples/demo/main.zig

@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ pub fn main() !void {
 
 /// Handler for GET /
 fn index(app: *App, _: *httpz.Request, res: *httpz.Response) !void {
-    const html = app.view.render(app.allocator, "layout", .{
+    const html = app.view.render(app.allocator, "index", .{
         .title = "Home",
     }) catch |err| {
         res.status = 500;

src/examples/demo/views/index.pug

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+doctype html
+html
+  head
+    title hello
+  body
+    p some thing
+    | ballah
+    | ballah
+    +btn("click me ", "secondary")

src/lexer.zig

@@ -635,115 +635,107 @@ pub const Lexer = struct {
 
     /// Scans an attribute value: "string", 'string', `template`, {object}, or expression.
     /// Handles expression continuation with operators like + for string concatenation.
-    /// Note: Quotes are preserved in the token value so evaluateExpression can detect string literals.
+    /// Emits a single token for the entire expression (e.g., "btn btn-" + type).
     fn scanAttrValue(self: *Lexer) !void {
         const start = self.pos;
-        try self.scanAttrValuePart();
 
-        // Check for expression continuation (e.g., "string" + variable)
+        // Scan the complete expression including operators
         while (!self.isAtEnd()) {
-            // Skip whitespace
+            const c = self.peek();
-            while (self.peek() == ' ' or self.peek() == '\t') {
+
+            if (c == '"' or c == '\'') {
+                // Quoted string
+                const quote = c;
                 self.advance();
-            }
+                while (!self.isAtEnd() and self.peek() != quote) {
-
+                    if (self.peek() == '\\' and self.peekNext() == quote) {
-            // Check for continuation operator
+                        self.advance(); // skip backslash
-            const ch = self.peek();
+                    }
-            if (ch == '+' or ch == '-' or ch == '*' or ch == '/') {
+                    self.advance();
-                self.advance(); // consume operator
+                }
-
+                if (self.peek() == quote) self.advance();
-                // Skip whitespace after operator
+            } else if (c == '`') {
+                // Template literal
+                self.advance();
+                while (!self.isAtEnd() and self.peek() != '`') {
+                    self.advance();
+                }
+                if (self.peek() == '`') self.advance();
+            } else if (c == '{') {
+                // Object literal - scan matching braces
+                var depth: usize = 0;
+                while (!self.isAtEnd()) {
+                    const ch = self.peek();
+                    if (ch == '{') depth += 1;
+                    if (ch == '}') {
+                        depth -= 1;
+                        self.advance();
+                        if (depth == 0) break;
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                    self.advance();
+                }
+            } else if (c == '[') {
+                // Array literal - scan matching brackets
+                var depth: usize = 0;
+                while (!self.isAtEnd()) {
+                    const ch = self.peek();
+                    if (ch == '[') depth += 1;
+                    if (ch == ']') {
+                        depth -= 1;
+                        self.advance();
+                        if (depth == 0) break;
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                    self.advance();
+                }
+            } else if (c == '(') {
+                // Function call - scan matching parens
+                var depth: usize = 0;
+                while (!self.isAtEnd()) {
+                    const ch = self.peek();
+                    if (ch == '(') depth += 1;
+                    if (ch == ')') {
+                        depth -= 1;
+                        self.advance();
+                        if (depth == 0) break;
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                    self.advance();
+                }
+            } else if (c == ')' or c == ',') {
+                // End of attribute value
+                break;
+            } else if (c == ' ' or c == '\t') {
+                // Whitespace - check if followed by operator (continue) or not (end)
+                const ws_start = self.pos;
                 while (self.peek() == ' ' or self.peek() == '\t') {
                     self.advance();
                 }
-
+                const next = self.peek();
-                // Scan next part of expression
+                if (next == '+' or next == '-' or next == '*' or next == '/') {
-                try self.scanAttrValuePart();
+                    // Operator follows - continue scanning (include whitespace)
-            } else {
+                    continue;
+                } else {
+                    // Not an operator - rewind and end
+                    self.pos = ws_start;
+                    break;
+                }
+            } else if (c == '+' or c == '-' or c == '*' or c == '/') {
+                // Operator - include it and continue
+                self.advance();
+            } else if (c == '\n' or c == '\r') {
+                // Newline ends the value
                 break;
+            } else {
+                // Regular character (alphanumeric, etc.)
+                self.advance();
             }
         }
 
-        // Emit the entire expression as a single token
+        const value = std.mem.trim(u8, self.source[start..self.pos], " \t");
-        const end = self.pos;
+        if (value.len > 0) {
-        if (end > start) {
+            try self.addToken(.attr_value, value);
-            // Replace the token(s) we may have added with one combined token
-            // We need to remove any tokens added by scanAttrValuePart and add one combined token
-            // Actually, let's restructure: don't add tokens in scanAttrValuePart
-        }
-        // Note: tokens were already added by scanAttrValuePart, which is fine for simple cases
-        // For concatenation, the runtime will need to handle multiple tokens or we combine here
-    }
-
-    /// Scans a single part of an attribute value (string, number, variable, etc.)
-    fn scanAttrValuePart(self: *Lexer) !void {
-        const c = self.peek();
-
-        if (c == '"' or c == '\'') {
-            // Quoted string with escape support - preserve quotes for expression evaluation
-            const quote = c;
-            const part_start = self.pos; // Include opening quote
-            self.advance();
-
-            while (!self.isAtEnd() and self.peek() != quote) {
-                if (self.peek() == '\\' and self.peekNext() == quote) {
-                    self.advance(); // skip backslash
-                }
-                self.advance();
-            }
-
-            if (self.peek() == quote) self.advance(); // Include closing quote
-            try self.addToken(.attr_value, self.source[part_start..self.pos]);
-        } else if (c == '`') {
-            // Template literal - preserve backticks
-            const part_start = self.pos;
-            self.advance();
-
-            while (!self.isAtEnd() and self.peek() != '`') {
-                self.advance();
-            }
-
-            if (self.peek() == '`') self.advance();
-            try self.addToken(.attr_value, self.source[part_start..self.pos]);
-        } else if (c == '{') {
-            // Object literal
-            try self.scanObjectLiteral();
-        } else if (c == '[') {
-            // Array literal
-            try self.scanArrayLiteral();
-        } else {
-            // Unquoted expression (e.g., variable, function call)
-            const part_start = self.pos;
-            var paren_depth: usize = 0;
-            var bracket_depth: usize = 0;
-
-            while (!self.isAtEnd()) {
-                const ch = self.peek();
-                if (ch == '(') {
-                    paren_depth += 1;
-                } else if (ch == ')') {
-                    if (paren_depth == 0) break;
-                    paren_depth -= 1;
-                } else if (ch == '[') {
-                    bracket_depth += 1;
-                } else if (ch == ']') {
-                    if (bracket_depth == 0) break;
-                    bracket_depth -= 1;
-                } else if (ch == ',' and paren_depth == 0 and bracket_depth == 0) {
-                    break;
-                } else if ((ch == ' ' or ch == '\t' or ch == '\n') and paren_depth == 0 and bracket_depth == 0) {
-                    break;
-                } else if ((ch == '+' or ch == '-' or ch == '*' or ch == '/') and paren_depth == 0 and bracket_depth == 0) {
-                    // Stop at operators - they'll be handled by scanAttrValue
-                    break;
-                }
-                self.advance();
-            }
-
-            const value = std.mem.trim(u8, self.source[part_start..self.pos], " \t");
-            if (value.len > 0) {
-                try self.addToken(.attr_value, value);
-            }
         }
     }
 

src/runtime.zig

@@ -880,6 +880,22 @@ pub const Runtime = struct {
     fn evaluateExpression(self: *Runtime, expr: []const u8) Value {
         const trimmed = std.mem.trim(u8, expr, " \t");
 
+        // Check for string concatenation with + operator
+        // e.g., "btn btn-" + type or "hello " + name + "!"
+        if (self.findConcatOperator(trimmed)) |op_pos| {
+            const left = std.mem.trim(u8, trimmed[0..op_pos], " \t");
+            const right = std.mem.trim(u8, trimmed[op_pos + 1 ..], " \t");
+
+            const left_val = self.evaluateExpression(left);
+            const right_val = self.evaluateExpression(right);
+
+            const left_str = left_val.toString(self.allocator) catch return Value.null;
+            const right_str = right_val.toString(self.allocator) catch return Value.null;
+
+            const result = std.fmt.allocPrint(self.allocator, "{s}{s}", .{ left_str, right_str }) catch return Value.null;
+            return Value.str(result);
+        }
+
         // Check for string literal
         if (trimmed.len >= 2) {
             if ((trimmed[0] == '"' and trimmed[trimmed.len - 1] == '"') or
@@ -903,6 +919,44 @@ pub const Runtime = struct {
         return self.lookupVariable(trimmed);
     }
 
+    /// Finds the position of a + operator that's not inside quotes or brackets.
+    /// Returns null if no such operator exists.
+    fn findConcatOperator(_: *Runtime, expr: []const u8) ?usize {
+        var in_string: u8 = 0; // 0 = not in string, '"' or '\'' = in that type of string
+        var bracket_depth: usize = 0;
+        var paren_depth: usize = 0;
+        var brace_depth: usize = 0;
+
+        for (expr, 0..) |c, i| {
+            if (in_string != 0) {
+                if (c == in_string) {
+                    in_string = 0;
+                } else if (c == '\\' and i + 1 < expr.len) {
+                    // Skip escaped character - we'll handle it in next iteration
+                    continue;
+                }
+            } else {
+                switch (c) {
+                    '"', '\'' => in_string = c,
+                    '[' => bracket_depth += 1,
+                    ']' => bracket_depth -|= 1,
+                    '(' => paren_depth += 1,
+                    ')' => paren_depth -|= 1,
+                    '{' => brace_depth += 1,
+                    '}' => brace_depth -|= 1,
+                    '+' => {
+                        if (bracket_depth == 0 and paren_depth == 0 and brace_depth == 0) {
+                            return i;
+                        }
+                    },
+                    else => {},
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        return null;
+    }
+
     /// Looks up a variable with dot notation support.
     fn lookupVariable(self: *Runtime, path: []const u8) Value {
         var parts = std.mem.splitScalar(u8, path, '.');