i am using smarty to template a site. this is my first time using smarty and well, the following code is not working although its exactly the same in the guides.

Code:
require('lib/Smarty.class.php');
$smarty = new Smarty();

$smarty->assign('lol', 'lmao');
$smarty->display('template.tpl');
it displays nothing. absolutely nothing.
however if i add code to echo something after this code it echoes? doesn't that mean there is no error or whatsoever?