According to a renowned Dutch programmer Guido van Rossum: “The joy of coding Python should be in seeing short, concise, readable classes that express a lot of action in a small amount of clear code — not in reams of trivial code that bores the reader to death.”
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Python language is blessed with different web development frameworks such as Django, Pyramid, Flask, etc.
The availability of so many alternatives makes for a difficult choice for Python developers. In order to make this task a bit easier, let’s evaluate Flask & Django which are the two widely used web development frameworks of Python and figure out which is a better choice and why.
1. Difference In The Basic Type Of Web Framework
Django is a full-stack web development framework of Python, which is built on the basis of the batteries included approach. It allows the programmers to accomplish different web development tasks in an easy manner such as URL routing and database schema migration, user authentication, etc. Also, this framework facilitates custom web app development with the help of a bootstrapping tool, ORM system, and a built-in template engine.
On the contrary, Flask is a lightweight, minimalist, and one of the simplest web development frameworks of Python. However, it does not have many built-in features that are offered by Django. But it allows developers to keep the core of the app design as simple and extensible as possible.
2. Django’s Functional Admin Interface
It is easier for programmers to handle common project administration tasks when working with Django. It is because this framework has a ready-to-use admin interface. Based on the project models, this interface also allows developers to customize it in accordance with the specific business needs.
The admin interface makes the tasks of website content administration and user management much easier for the developers. Also, because of this unique interface, Django has gained an edge over other frameworks in the industry. Unfortunately, Flask does not possess any such ready-to-use admin interface.
3. Different Template Engines
Flask is built on the basis of Jinja2 which is a fully featured template engine for the Python language. This template is blessed with an integrated sandboxed execution environment and allow programmers to write templates in an expressive manner. These two factors help developers to accelerate the entire process of web app development.
On the other hand, Django comes with a built-in template engine. This engine enables developers to speed up the development of custom user interface by letting them write templates in Django template language (DTL). Also, due to this engine, there is no need for the programmers to invest extra time and effort in order to define a web app’s user-facing layer.
4. Django’s Built-in Bootstrapping Tool
Django-admin is the built-in bootstrapping tool of Django framework. With the help of this tool, the developers can create dynamic web apps without any external input. Also, it helps them in dividing the entire project into a number of applications.
Django-admin equips the programmers with the capacity to develop new applications within the project. Also, in accordance with the specific requirements of a project, they can further utilize these apps to include functionality to the dynamic web apps. On the contrary, Flask does not have a built-in bootstrapping tool like Django. Therefore, this tool gives Django an edge over Flask.
5. Difference In Project Layout
When working with Flask, the programmers have to treat each project as a single application. But they can easily integrate multiple models and views to the same application.
Whereas, Django developers have the freedom to divide a project into multiple applications. This makes the task of writing individual applications easier for the developers. Also, they can add functionality to the web apps by integrating them into the project. Moreover, these small apps allow programmers to easily maintain and extend the Python web apps.
6. Difference In Database Support
Django is blessed with a robust ORM system that enables developers to work in harmony with different databases such as SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, etc. Also, due to this ORM system, there is no need for the programmers to write lengthy SQL queries in order to perform common database operations.
But Flask does not offer any such built-in ORM system to the developers. Here, they are required to perform database operations and work with databases through SQLAlchemy. They can use it as a SQL toolkit and ORM system for this language. Also, they have the provision of performing database queries by writing and executing database queries.
7. Difference In Flexibility Of These Two Frameworks
When working with Django, the programmers can build a variety of web applications without taking help of third-party tools and libraries because of the batteries included in the framework.
But here, the developers can’t make any changes to the modules provided by the framework. Therefore, they only have the option to build web applications by using the built-in features of Django.
On the other hand, Flask is a micro but an extensible web development framework. With the help of different web development tools and libraries, this framework enables developers to create web apps more flexible. Also, this framework is considered to have a short and easy learning curve for beginners in comparison to Django.
8. Usage & Popularity
Both these frameworks are widely used by many high-traffic websites. But if we consider the statistics, then Django is more popular than Flask. By using the robust features, it is much easier for the Django developers to build and deploy complex web apps quickly. Some of the industry giants that are using this framework to power their web presence are Google, Instagram, Dropbox, Spotify, etc.
But for building simple websites with static content, Flask is an ideal platform. However, this platform provides the programmers with the freedom to customize and extend it in accordance with the specific project needs.
Overall, both of these open source web development frameworks are extensively used by many businesses to build amazing websites. Therefore, while choosing one of them, the developers and entrepreneurs have to consider the individual specifications and requirements of the project.
Author Bio:
Anubhuti Shrivastava is a content crafter at Arkenea, a custom software development company helping entrepreneurs and businesses build successful web and mobile apps. She is passionate about writing articles on topics related to design and the software development industry.
