Python has become one of the most popular programming languages nowadays. This is because of the ease of learning python and availability of a lot of web frameworks and libraries. These frameworks and libraries make programming in python a cake walk. With these frameworks, you can learn to code working web applications within few hours. In this article, we will discuss two python web frameworks namely Django and Flask. We will also look at the debate of Django vs Flask by analyzing the functionalities of these frameworks. 

What is Django Framework?

Django is the most popular python web framework. It is an open-source, high-level web framework designed for rapid development of software applications. 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. 

What is Flask Framework?

Flask is also 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. 

Django vs Flask: Which Framework Is Better?

Now, we will perform a comparison between functionalities to point out the differences between Flask and Django.

• Django is a full-stack python framework while Flask is a lightweight web framework.
• Django has an inbuilt admin framework that can be customized to handle administration tasks. Flask has no such feature.
• Django allows you to divide a single project into different small applications for easy maintenance and development. In Flask, each project has to be done in a single application.
• In Django, You don’t need to write SQL queries as it has a built-in ORM system to perform common database operations. Flask lacks this functionality and you will need to write SQL queries for every task using SQLAlchemy as the SQL toolkit.
• Django is a production-ready framework and can perform significantly well under heavy load whereas Flask is single-threaded and may not perform well under heavy load.
• Django is suitable for projects in which requirements are almost fixed and don’t change frequently. Flask is suitable for applications that need flexibility and may require functionalities to be added to them.
• Django is best suited for large projects that require a lot of functionalities. Flask is perfect for building simple applications.
• While developing web applications with Django, you will need to follow best practices because every functionality is implemented using templates. On the other hand, Flask is open-ended and you are free to use your own style of code.
•  Django provides you templates to implement different functionalities, which significantly reduces the effort required to develop web applications. On the other hand, Flask allows you to use any library or plugin of your choice to implement the functionalities in the web application. 
• Django needs a lot of code to be written for the same functionality that can be implemented using Flask with much fewer lines of code. 

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.

Django vs Flask: Which Framework Should You Choose?

After reading about the Django vs Flask discussion, you might be thinking about choosing one framework from Django or Flask. If you are just starting with web frameworks in python, 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.

How to learn Python Web Frameworks?

To learn Python web frameworks in a better way, You need to choose a python web framework such as Django or Flask and keep working on it. If you are a beginner, it is better to learn every concept from a single python web framework instead of trying to work with each one of them.   You should also try to read and understand tutorials and documentation given on the official website of the web framework you have chosen. After understanding the concepts, try to implement them. You can also take help from YouTube video tutorials and blogs.

After learning the basics, look at the open-source examples on GitHub that have been done with the framework of your choice. You can understand the code and see how different functionalities have been implemented by others in a very efficient way. You can also reuse the codes from open-source projects. Finally, you can build your own web applications using the concepts and deploy them on the web. This will give you more insights into the working of these web frameworks.

Conclusion

In this article, we have discussed Django and Flask web frameworks in Python. We looked at their functionalities, similarities and differences. If you want to develop an application in python, you can start by learning the Flask framework first. Later, you can look into Django for creating complex applications.

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