Top Python frameworks for web development

A Web framework is a collection of packages or modules which allow developers to write Web applications or services without having to handle such low-level details as protocols, sockets or process/thread management. The majority of Web frameworks are exclusively server-side technology, although some Web frameworks are beginning to help developers with the particularly tricky task of programming (client-side) the user's browser.

The web framework is a code library that makes web development faster and easier by providing common patterns for building reliable, scalable and maintainable web applications. Frameworks make it easier to reuse code for common HTTP operations and to structure projects so other developers with knowledge of the framework can quickly build and maintain the application.

So, here are the most popular high-level frameworks that provide a defined structure to the developers so that they can focus on the core logic of the application rather than on other elements. Many of them include components listed on the WebComponents page.

Let's know them -

Django

The Web framework for perfectionists (with deadlines). Django makes it easier to build better Web apps more quickly and with less code. Django is a high-level Python Web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. It lets you build high-performing, elegant Web applications quickly. Django focuses on automating as much as possible and adhering to the DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) principle. It implements ORM to map its instances to database tables. It provides support for multiple databases such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, and Oracle. Hence, it becomes easier for developers to transfer the code from one database to another.

TurboGears

TurboGears, developed by Kevin Dangoor and Mark Ramm, is a full-stack web application framework. It is a data-driven, open source and free-to-use Python web framework. With the help of components such as WebOb, SQLAlchemy, Genshi, and Repoze, you can easily develop applications that require database connectivity much faster as compared to other existing frameworks.

Web2py

Web2py is a scalable open-source full-stack Python framework. All in one package with no further dependencies. Development, deployment, debugging, testing, database administration and maintenance of applications can be done via the provided web interface, but not required. Web2py has no configuration files, requires no installation, can be run off a USB drive. Web2py uses Python for the Model, View and the Controller. Built-in ticketing system to manage errors.

Pyramid

Pyramid is an open-source Python-based web application framework. Its main goal is to do as much as possible with minimum complexity. The most striking feature of the Pyramid is its ability to work well with both small and large applications.

Giotto

Giotto is a Python framework that is based on the MVC (Model View Controller) pattern. It separates Model, View, and Controller elements in order to ensure that web designers, web developers, and system administrators can perform their functions independently and effectively. Apart from this, it also incorporates controller modules, which enables users to create applications on top of the web, IRC, or command line.

Flask

Flask is a Python framework available under the BSD license. It was inspired by the Sinatra Ruby framework. Flask depends on the Werkzeug WSGI toolkit and Jinja2 Template. The main idea behind Flask is to help build a solid web application foundation. From there, you can use any extensions you might need. Flask’s lightweight and modular design make it easily adaptable to developers’ needs.

CubicWeb

The web developers can use CubicWeb as a semantic web application framework for Python. In addition to following common object-oriented programming principles, CubicWeb further accelerates custom web application development by providing reusable components called cubes. The developers can further take advantage of the library of reusable components to perform common web development tasks efficiently. CubicWeb even allows programmers to use the RQL query language. CubicWeb has been evolving consistently to facilitate the development of modern web applications.

Tornado

Its main feature is non-blocking I/O. Thus, Tornado can be scaled to handle tens of thousands of open connections. An ideal framework for long polling, WebSockets and other usages with a continuous connection. Tornado officially supports only Linux and BSD OS (Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows are recommended only for development use). The origin of Tornado is FriendFeed project, now owned by Facebook.

Pylons

Pylons is a lightweight Web framework aiming at flexibility and rapid development. With the best ideas from Ruby, Python, and Perl, it makes for a structured, but extremely flexible Python Web framework. With Pylons, Web development is fast, flexible, and easy. Pylons are built on top of Paste. But after being merged with Pyramid to form the Pylons project, it is in maintenance-only status.

CherryPy

CherryPy is a Web application development framework based on Python, that greatly simplifies the work of Python Web developers. It provides a friendly HTTP protocol interfaces for Python developers. As we all know, HTTP is the pillar of WWW protocols. CherryPy simplifies the HTTP protocol to Python API for use by the Python developers, which greatly simplifies the operation of the HTTP protocol for the Web developers. CherryPy built in an HTTP server or Web server itself, so the users of CherryPy can run directly CherryPy application without building Web server. In fact, the Web server is the gate to reach CherryPy application and the only way for all the HTTP requests and responses.

Bottle

Another interesting framework is the bottle, which also falls under the category of micro-frameworks. It was initially designed for creating APIs. But this is capable of implementing all aspects and components of an app embedded within a single source file. It is dependent only upon the Python standard library. It is easier to do coding with a bottle, unlike other frameworks. Some of its default features are utilities, basic abstraction, templating, routing, etc.

Dash

Dash is an open-source Python framework used for building analytical web applications. It’s especially good for Python data scientists who aren’t very familiar with web development. Dash applications are web servers that run Flask and communicate with JSON packets over HTTP requests. Their frontend renders components with React.js. Apps developed with Dash are rendered in the web browser and can be deployed to servers. This also means that Dash applications are inherently cross-platform and mobile-ready.

Sanic

Sanic is an easy, open source, and simple Python framework. This framework is similar to Flask in function but it is much faster comparatively. It was specially designed for quick HTTP responses with the help of asynchronous request handlers. A remarkable record was made during a benchmark test performed using the Sanic framework. It was recorded that Sanic framework has the potential to process 33,342 requests in a second. This statistic is enough to display how fast Sanic is.

Hug

Hug is among the fastest web frameworks for Python. With it, you can build APIs. It supports several API versions, automatic API documentation, and annotation-powered validation. It is built on top of another JSON framework, Falcon.

 

As you can see, the final choice of one of the many Python web frameworks today must occur depending on your individual needs and the specifics of the project you are working on.

Overall, there is an abundance of frameworks available for you as a web developer. The above are the ones that are time proven and will definitely continue to be used in the coming years.

Tell us which frameworks are your best choice. You can share development experiences with us in the comment section. Thank you!

 

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