Python Web Frameworks

          Python is a feature-rich programming language with lots of useful libraries and web frameworks. Python web frameworks and libraries provide a lot of functionalities to the programmers while requiring only a few lines of code. In this article, We will discuss different python web frameworks, their advantages, and disadvantages. We will also discuss the two most popular python web frameworks for web development that are Django and Flask. We will discuss their similarities and differences and will also discuss whether you should choose Django or Flask for web development in Python.

What is a Python Web Framework?

List of Popular Web Frameworks in Python

Django vs Flask: Which is better?

Django or Flask: What Should You choose?

Why should you use a web framework in your projects?

How to learn Python Web Frameworks?

Conclusion

          A web framework is a library that consists of functions and tools for web development tasks. A web framework provides functionalities for faster and easier web development that helps to build a reliable, maintainable, and scalable web application.

          A web application can be developed in Python without using any web framework. Web frameworks are designed to help web developers in developing web applications in an easy manner by encapsulating and implementing every functionality in a single library.  By using web frameworks, you can reuse the codes for different functionalities and your application will work seamlessly. This is due to the fact that web frameworks are developed and tested for different types of applications. Being robust, Web applications developed using web frameworks can handle different errors and exceptions very carefully which makes development easy for you. The most common functionalities offered by web frameworks are discussed below.  

          URL routing is the process of receiving an incoming web request and mapping it to a code that creates the webpage or redirecting the web request to a different URL. We can implement URL routing in python using different web frameworks like Django, Flask, and Routes.

          Handling the input and output data and validating them is very important for a web application to run smoothly. If inputs are not in a proper format, it can cause huge losses for businesses as the web application may crash due to the wrong format of input data. Python web frameworks offer different ways to handle the input and output data and validating them. They provide functions to handle different types of input files such as HTML, XML, and JSON which might be a tedious task to implement if we don’t wish to develop web applications in Python using web frameworks.

          Object-relational mappers, as the name suggests, are used for mapping relational data to objects in the program code and vice-versa. Python web frameworks provide functions to implement connection configuration and CRUD operations on databases using python code, without the need to write SQL queries.

          Security of data and business logic is important for any business to be successful and a breach in security can cause monetary and reputation loss. Python web frameworks provide different functionalities to protect the data and applications against SQL injection attacks, cross-site attacks, and other unauthorized accesses.

          Using session storage and retrieval, data for a particular session of a user can be accessed. Python web frameworks have functionalities to implement session storage and retrieval very easily.  

Now that we have understood the functionalities of web frameworks, We will now look at some of the popular python web frameworks.

          AIOHTTP is an asynchronous HTTP Client/Server web framework. It supports client-server, HTTP server, server WebSockets and clients WebSockets along with middlewares, Signals, and pluggable routing which help you develop web applications in an easy manner. You can install aiohttp using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U aiohttp. To speed up DNS resolving by the client API, you can also install aiodns using the command python -m pip install -U aiodns.

          BlackSheep is an asynchronous python framework used for developing web applications. It is mainly used for building event-based web applications. BlackSheep has a rich API inspired by Flask and ASP.NET core, which is based on dependency injection. With a typing-friendly codebase, BlackSheep offers hints while coding in development environments and enables a comfortable development experience for the users.  

BlackSheep is fully Compatible with OpenAPI and supports version 3, YAML, and JSON. If you are looking for a cross-platform framework to develop web applications, you may find BlackSheep a useful tool. You can install BlackSheep using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U blacksheep.

          Bottle is a WSGI micro web framework for developing web applications in Python. It is simple, fast, and lightweight having no dependencies other than the standard python library. Using Bottle, you can access different types of data such as cookies, headers, and form data very easily. It has a built-in HTTP development server and it also supports Google app engine, CherryPy, Bjoern, and other WSGI compliant HTTP servers. You can install Bottle using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U bottle.

          CherryPy is an  object-oriented  python  web  framework. If you  have used  object-oriented  programming languages in the past, you can easily create web applications with CherryPy. It allows you to build a web application just like any other object-oriented program. Object-oriented design helps you in developing web applications with concise and readable code with high efficiency.

CherryPy provides powerful configuration management for both the developers and the deployers. It comes with a reliable, WSGI thread-pooled web server with built-in profiling, coverage, and testing support. It has built-in tools for caching, authentication, encoding, session management, and other tasks. If you are experienced in object-oriented programming, CherryPy is one of the best python web frameworks for you to start with web development. You can install CherryPy using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U cherrypy.

          CubicWeb is termed as a semantic web framework. It is free, open-source, and completely written in Python. Its components are called cubes. You can develop web applications very efficiently using cubes and object-oriented design principles. CubicWeb has its own query language called RQL. It also provides an engine driven by the explicit data model with a selection+view mechanism for semi-automatic XML, XHTML, JSON, and text generation. With SQL databases, LDAP directories, Subversion, and Mercurial for storage backends, CubicWeb provides increased reliability with enhanced security for web applications. Having a lot of reusable components and the use of object-oriented methodologies makes CubicWeb a good python web framework for developers who are experienced in object-oriented methodologies. You can install CubicWeb using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U cubicweb.

          Cyclone is a Python web framework that implements the Tornado API as an event-driven network programming framework named Twisted. It provides non-blocking asynchronous I/O. Using Twisted's Event-Loop, Cyclone provides support for various protocols like HTTP, e-mail, ssh, sip, irc, and others concurrently. You can install Cyclone using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip -m install -U cyclone.

           Django is the most popular python web framework. It is an open-source, high-level web framework designed for rapid development. Django has multiple security features and it helps developers avoid many common security mistakes. Django’s user authentication system also provides a secure way to manage user accounts and passwords. If you are thinking of developing a web application with pragmatic performance and high scalability within hours, Django is the best option among all python web frameworks. You can install Django using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip -m install -U django.

          Falcon is termed a no-nonsense python web framework. This is due to its focus on reliability, correctness, and performance at scale. You can build very fast APIs and web applications using Falcon as it doesn’t force you to use dependencies and unnecessary abstractions. It is also WSGI compliant. You can install Falconusing PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip -m install -U falcon.

          FastAPI is a high-performance web framework used to build APIs in Python. Built on the top of the Starlette and Pydantic python web frameworks, FastAPI is one of the fastest python web frameworks. It is fast to code, intuitive, and very easy to learn. With FastAPI, you can code production-ready applications with fewer bugs and very high performance. Also, FastAPI is fully Compatible with OpenAPI.You can install FastAPI using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U fastapi.

          Flask is one of the most popular python web frameworks. It is a micro web framework that can be used to develop easy to complex web applications. Flask offers high scalability and flexibility. During the development, It offers you suggestions but it does not enforce any dependencies or project layout. The developer is free to use whichever library or tools he wants to use to implement different functionalities. You can install Flask using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U Flask.

          Giotto is a python web framework designed to encourage a functional style of programming. Giotto provides an MVC framework with strong decoupling between the Model, view, and controller modules. This gives independence to the developers as designers, system administrators, and web developers can work independently on the same project. With generic views, generic models, and multiple pluggable controllers, Giotto also offers a Free RESTful interface in addition to the normal browser POST CRUD site. Moreover, its functional CRUD patterns also eliminate the need for Django-style form objects. Other useful functionalities such as automatic URL routing, built-in cache, SQLAlchemy for database persistence, and Jinja2 for HTML templates enable you to write a fully functional web application within 300 lines of code. If you are planning to develop a web application and developers in your team need to work concurrently on different aspects to save time, Giotto is the best choice for Python web framework. You can install Giotto using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U giotto.

          Grok is a python web framework developed on the top of Zope 3 framework.  The motive behind the development of Grok was to provide a smooth learning experience to beginners with an emphasis on agile development. Instead of using explicit XML-based configuration language, It uses convention over configuration paradigm which allows you to minimize the number of decisions you need to make while developing the web application without losing flexibility. Grok uses python code for component configuration and with various implicit defaults and conventions, it makes it easy for you to develop a web application. You can install Grok using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U grok.

          Hug is one of the fastest python web frameworks. It offers a variety of interfaces and supports automatic documentation and annotation-based validation integrated version control. Hug has been designed with a vision that it will be the basis for next-generation Python APIs due to its high performance. It can also be used as a library in any other python application. You can install Hug using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U hug.

          Japronto is an asynchronous HTTP application toolkit and server bundle. It is built on the top of picohttpparser and uvloop. Although it is not very popular, Japronto is a good tool for people who like to plumb and are ready to be early adopters. You can install Japronto using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip -m install -U japronto.

          Klein is a web framework used for developing production-ready web applications in Python. It has a very small API and is termed a micro-framework. The small size of Klein can be attributed to the reason that it is built using well-tested components like Twisted and Werkzeug. You can install Klein using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U klein.

          Masonite is termed a  modern and  developer-centric  Python web  framework. With great  documentation and community support, Masonite is very easy to learn for beginners. With masonite, you can develop real MVC applications. It supports many features such as email notifications, databases, background jobs, and web sockets. It is very easy to integrate additional features for creating web applications with masonite. As an example, We can create a complete authentication system using just one command in Masonite. It is one of the best python web frameworks to learn if you are creating MVC applications. You can install Masonite using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U masonite-cli.

         Molten is a fast  and  extensible  web  framework used to build  HTTP  APIs  in  Python. Its  most applauded features include request validation, dependency injection, support for functional middlewares, and availability of various configuration files, WebSockets, request Ids, and Prometheus metrics. You can install Molten using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U molten.

          Nagare is a WSGI compliant component-based python web framework. Each component in Nagare has its own state and workflow kept on the server, which interacts with other components to execute the business logic and produce the output. With Nagare, you can write highly reusable components and use them in your applications to develop web applications in an easy manner. 

Nagare is also developed as a continuation-based web framework. It enables you to write web applications just like desktop applications. You don’t need to split the control flow of the web application into different controllers. You can install Nagare using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U nagare.

          Pylons is a python web framework designed to help developers in developing web applications in an easy and concise manner. It is a lightweight and flexible framework that can be used to develop web applications rapidly. If you are going to develop a web application with minimum features and plan to add features later, Pylons may be one of the best python web frameworks for you. This is because Pylons comes with project templates that will help you to boot-strap a new web application. You can also starch from scratch and set things up exactly as desired. To install Pylons using PIP, you can execute the command python -m pip install -U Pylons in the command prompt.

          Pyramid is an open-source Python web framework. As the name suggests, You can start with a small code, and later you can override and customize core code and add-ons from the outside, without forking. Pyramid provides numerous extension facilities built into the framework which can be included and configured to develop the application. If you are trying to build a web application with a vision to add different functionalities later on, Pyramid is the best choice for the python web framework.  You can install Pyramid using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U pyramid.

          Quart is also a micro web framework similar to Klein. Quart allows you to perform different operations like writing (RESTful) JSON APIs, streaming response and request data, rendering and serving HTML, and serving WebSockets to name a few. It is an ASGI web framework and provides one of the easiest ways to use asynchronous functionalities in a web application. You can install Quart using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U quart.

          Quixote is a python  web  framework  designed  to  offer high  performance  and  flexibility  while developing web applications. It uses python classes and functions to format web pages. If you are fond of working with traditional techniques without separating presentation and business logic, Quixote is a suitable choice for a python web framework for you. You can install Quixote using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U Quixote.

          Responder is built on top of the Starlette web framework. It has various built-in features like SMB authentication server, MSSQL authentication server, LDAP authentication server, HTTP/HTTPS authentication server, DNS server, WPAD Proxy Server, Browser Listener, ICMP redirection, and much more. It is primarily used for poisoning name services for gathering credentials and hashes from systems within a local network. You can install Responder using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U responder. 

          Routes is a reimplementation of the Rails routes system in Python. It is used for generating URLs and mapping them to different controllers and actions. You can install Routes using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U Routes. 

          Sanic is a Python web framework and also works as a web server. It supports async and await functions for creating fast and non-blocking web applications. It is a highly scalable ASGI compliant web framework with a simple and intuitive API design. Sanic is open source and is sponsored by Codestream. With a large open-source community where you can clear your doubts, You can solve your problems easily if you are facing any of them while using Sanic. You can install Sanic using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U sanic.

          Starlette is a lightweight ASGI compliant python web framework. If you are working on a web application with high-performance asyncio services, Starlette might be one of the suitable python web frameworks for your project. It is production-ready and has many useful features such as WebSocket support, Session and Cookie support, In-process background tasks, CORS, GZip, Static Files, Streaming responses, and fewer hard dependencies. Starlette helps in building reusable components, which can be shared between different ASGI frameworks. It helps in creating an ecosystem of shared middleware and mountable applications. You can install Starlette using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U starlette.

          TurboGears 2 is a python web framework developed on top of TurboGears, Django, and Rails web frameworks. It is designed to implement web applications with complex industrial-strength problems. Along with support for multiple template engines, TurboGears 2 provides a transaction manager for managing multi-database deployments and has official support for MongoDB.  If you are frustrated by the limitations of other python web frameworks, You can choose to work with TurboGears 2. You can install TurboGears 2 using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U TurboGears2.

          Tornado is a python web framework and an asynchronous networking library. It can handle thousands of connections at once due to its non-blocking network I/O. This makes Tornado useful for developing web applications that are subjected to high traffic and require longer connections with client machines. Tornado supports numerous functionalities such as user authentication, authorization, and internationalization, and localization tools. If you are planning to create a web application with numerous functionalities and high performance, Tornado is the best choice for a python web framework. You can install Tornado using PIP in the command prompt by executing the command python -m pip install -U tornado.

          Web2Py is a full-stack python web framework designed for developing database-driven web applications. With extensive documentation and tutorials, Web2Py helps you to follow good practices for software development. It also helps you to identify security vulnerabilities in the web application by following established procedures.It includes a fast multi-threaded web server, web-based interface, and SQL database. The database abstraction layer also helps you in writing SQL queries dynamically. By offering you the ability to create, modify, deploy and manage applications from anywhere using your browser, Web2Py is a strong contender for becoming one of the most popular python web frameworks. You can also run multiple websites using different databases in a single web2py instance. To install Web2Py using PIP, you can execute the command python -m pip install -U web2py in the command prompt.

          Zope or “Z Object Publishing Environment” is sometimes referred to as the granddaddy of python web frameworks. Along with a web framework, it provides an array of tools and a general-purpose application server. It is best used to design content management systems and highly customized web applications. If you are interested in creating highly reusable custom code to develop web applications, Zope 2 is built for you. To install Zope 2 using PIP, you can execute the command python -m pip install -U Zope2 in the command prompt.

Now that you have read an overview of different python web frameworks, We will discuss the difference between the two most popular python web frameworks that are Django and Flask.

          In the previous section, you have briefly studied both Flask and Django frameworks. Now we will perform a comparison between functionalities to point out the differences between Flask and Django.

While looking at these differences, you might have noticed that there is no clear winner in the discussion of Django vs Flask. The better performance of any of these frameworks depends on the needs of the web application.

          After reading about all the python web frameworks and the Django vs Flask discussion, you might be thinking about choosing one framework from Django or Flask.  If you are just starting with python web frameworks, you should start with Flask. I am suggesting this to you because Django is complicated and has a deep learning curve whereas flask is a micro-framework and you can choose functionalities according to your choice. You can have hands-on experience with web frameworks using Flask and then you can start using Django.

If you are an experienced developer, Django is the clear choice for you to develop web applications with a lot of traffic. For building smaller web applications, Flask may be the preferred choice. 

So, Choosing Django or Flask as the preferred python framework for your web application depends on your needs and expertise. If you are experienced and need to implement complex business logic with a lot of traffic, you should consider using the Django framework. If you are a beginner and you just want to develop a basic web application, you should consider using the Flask framework.

          You can choose to work with a web framework or without it while developing a web application. The decision depends on what functionalities you are going to implement and what is your experience. For example, If you are a beginner and you just want to develop a web application to understand the different functionalities such as ORM, URL routing, and web security, you should use a web framework. On the contrary, If you are an experienced web developer and you feel that the currently available frameworks do not meet your project’s requirements, You can use open source libraries instead of web frameworks to develop your web application. 

In simple terms, there is no compulsion to use a web framework while developing web applications. You can use them or you can write your web application using different open-source libraries according to your convenience.

          To learn Python web frameworks in a better way, you can follow the steps mentioned below.

          In this article, we have discussed different python web frameworks, their advantages, and disadvantages. We have also discussed the two most popular python web frameworks for web development that are Django and Flask. We also discussed the differences between Django and Flask frameworks in the Django vs Flask section. In the end, we looked at some tips to start with Python web frameworks.

We hope you enjoyed the article. If you have any related queries, feel free to ask in the comment section below.

   

Liked what you read? Then don’t break the spree. Visit our blog page to read more awesome articles. 

Keep Learning. Keep Growing.