(function($) {
    $.extend({
        // public interface: $.tmpl
        tmpl: function(tmpl, vals) {
            
            var rgxp, repr;

            // default to doing no harm
            tmpl = tmpl || '';
            vals = vals || {};

            // regular expression for matching our placeholders; e.g., #{my-cLaSs_name77}
            rgxp = /#\{([^{}]*)}/g;

            // function to making replacements
            repr = function(str, match) {
            return typeof vals[match] === 'string' || typeof vals[match] === 'number' || 
                (typeof vals[match] === 'object' && vals[match] == null) ? (vals[match] == null ? "" : vals[match]) : str;
            };

            return tmpl.replace(rgxp, repr);
        }
    });
})(jQuery);