# Commands

[TOC]

## What are `Closure Templates` commands?

Commands are a very high level concept that take many forms. They are
instructions that you give the template compiler to a) create templates, and b)
add custom logic to templates. `Closure Templates` commands are anything placed
within tags, which are delimited by curly brackets: `{}`.

## What types of commands are there?

Commands represent everything from control flow:

```soy
{if <expression>}
  ...
{elseif <expression>}
  ...
{else}
  ...
{/if}
```

To the templates themselves:

```soy
{template <TEMPLATE_NAME>}
  ...
{/template}
```

The syntax for commands depends on the specific command. You can find
explanations and example usages of all commands in the `Closure Templates`
[reference guide](../reference/index.md).

## Special case: `Print` command

The most common command, other than perhaps `template`, is `print`, which prints
a simple value. Because `print` is so common, it is the implied command for all
tags that don't explicitly begin with a command.

For example, given the parameter `$userName` you can write either `{print
$userName}` or the short form `{$userName}`.

### Print directives

Because `print` is so common, there are also a whole category of sub-commands
dedicated to it called print directives. Print directives are post-processing on
the output of a print command. For a full list and explanation, see the [print
directive reference page](../reference/print-directives.md).

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