Django and Flask are both Python-based web frameworks designed to cut back on the amount of work that Web Developers have to do, but they’re more dissimilar than they are alike. So what makes these two frameworks so different? How can Web Developers know which one to use? Let’s examine these popular frameworks and find out.
What Is Django?
Django is a robust Python web framework that’s primarily used in back end web development. Since its release to the public in 2005, Django has become a favorite of developers thanks to its security, scalability, and versatility. Django is often called a “batteries included framework” because its many wide-ranging features can easily “power” even the most complex websites and web applications.
Advantages of Django
Django offers many advantages with the primary ones being:
- It provides a wide range of features capable of handling many of the most common web development tasks
- It has a built-in internationalization system that supports multilingual websites
- It includes an easy-to-use interface to manage a variety of administrative activities
- It offers application testing from end-to-end
- It allows API documentation with an HTML output
- It provides access to several authentication protocols through the REST framework
- It allows developers to quickly and efficiently create complex applications
Disadvantages of Django
A few of Django’s disadvantages include:
- It’s often too bloated for small projects
- It’s a monolithic platform with a large codebase
- It offers few customization options
What is Flask?
Flask is a micro web framework that’s written in Python. While the idea for Flask may have originated as an April Fool’s joke, the framework’s popularity has taken off thanks to its simple, lightweight nature. As opposed to Django, which includes a wide range of features, Flask only contains the essential elements necessary for developing the back end and nothing more. Flask is highly extensible, however; further features can be added through pre-written extensions or custom-coded modules.
Advantages of Flask
The primary advantages of Flask are:
- It’s easier to use on simple applications
- Its codebase is relatively small
- It has high scalability for smaller applications
- It’s highly compatible with recent technology
- It allows for easy database integration
- It’s minimalistic but powerful
- It can easily be customized through extensions
Disadvantages of Flask
Flask does come with a few disadvantages, including:
- It doesn’t include built-in database support
- It takes longer to develop a minimum viable product (MVP)
- It’s difficult to maintain complex systems using Flask
Comparing Django v. Flask
Now that we’ve learned a bit about each framework, let’s take a closer look at how Django and Flask stack up against one another in a few key areas.
Learning Curve
It’s unwise to think that Flask and Django are on a similar learning curve just because they’re both Python web frameworks. While Python is a prerequisite for learning either framework, that’s where the similarities end; there is a clear distinction between learning these frameworks with Django having the steepest learning curve of the two.
The difficulty in mastering Django can be attributed to all the “bells and whistles” it includes; when you start to learn Django, you’re essentially trying to figure out all of Django’s features at one time, which can become overwhelming.
Flask, on the other hand, is much easier to grasp because it’s lightweight and requires less coding. The only downside to learning Flask is that you must make decisions about which extensions to add. While Django includes practically everything you could possibly need for back end development, you need to customize Flask so it meets the requirements of your project.
Development Speed
The purpose of any framework is to speed up the web development process. This is done by standardizing the creation of web applications and automating common activities which reduces the amount of coding that’s required. Both Django and Flask accomplish this goal but how much time they’re able to save depends upon the size of the project.
If you’re developing an application that’s relatively small, using the Flask framework will most certainly save you time. That time savings does not apply to larger projects, however. Because of its lightweight, minimalistic design, Flask doesn’t easily support the development of web applications that are large and complex. In that case, Django would be better suited to the task.
Flexibility and Control
When it comes to flexibility and control, Flask is the clear winner over Django. You might think that Django’s “batteries included” approach would mean that you have access to more options, but that’s a misconception. While it’s true that practically everything you need is already included in the Django framework, you have no choice regarding those features—you have to use what’s already there.
With Flask, however, you only get the bare-bones framework without all of the extra components that Django provides. This minimalistic approach might sound like a negative on the face of it, but it allows developers to customize the framework as they see fit by using a wide range of external libraries and add-ons. The ability to add and customize features as needed makes Flask much more flexible and easier to control than Django.
Features
Each framework offers its own unique set of features; here’s how a few of the major ones compare.
1. Admin Panel
Django has a built-in admin panel that allows users to easily manage common project administration tasks. For example, users can use the admin interface to automatically display and handle forms, authenticate users, and validate input, just to name a few. Developers can even customize the admin panel to meet the unique requirements of the project. Flask, on the other hand, offers no tools to handle administrative tasks.
2. Database
Django offers a robust object-relational mapping (ORM) system which enables developers to work with commonly used databases such as MySQL, SQLite, PostgreSQL, and Oracle. The ORM system also allows developers to carry out common database operations without the need to write lengthy SQL queries.
Because it’s designed to be as lightweight as possible, Flask does not contain a built-in database system. On the upside, this provides developers with a bit more flexibility since they can choose which database they want to work with and add this functionality through the use of plug-ins, extensions, and libraries.
3. URL Routing
Django and Flask both have default URL routing and views, but their implementation is slightly different. With Django, the URL logic is separated from the view logic; developers define URL patterns in urls.py which direct to the handlers in views.py. The mapping of URLs to views is created through a request which is then matched with the URL pattern to produce the view.
Flask, on the other hand, relies on the Werkzeug WSGI toolkit (one of Flask’s key components) to take care of URL routing and request/response handling. This is accomplished by using decorators on the functions to define routes. While the end result is the same whether you’re using Flask or Django, the process of mapping is a bit more streamlined in Flask.
4. Template Engine
The Django framework comes with a built-in templating system that provides developers with a fast, convenient way to generate dynamic HTML pages without having to waste time with excess coding. Flask is built on Jinja2, a fully-featured Python template engine that was actually inspired by Django’s system. Much like the template engine found in Django, Jinja2 can also accelerate the development of interactive web applications. With these similarities, neither framework has a clear advantage over the other in regards to templating.
5. Reusable Components
Both Django and Flask provide reusable components, though the core concepts, implementation, and maintenance differ slightly. Django relies on “apps” to provide reusable components such as forms, views, routes, templates, etc. while Flask’s reusable components are available through what they call “blueprints.” Though the two are similar in function, Django apps are more difficult to set up compared to Flask’s blueprints, but they’re more reliable and consistent once they’ve been established.
Performance
Flask has a small code footprint, which improves its overall performance when compared to Django. Larger frameworks like Django tend to be slower and more cumbersome while speed is a natural by-product of having a lightweight framework with fewer layers. That being said, the difference in performance isn’t significant enough to discount Django altogether; it performs very well against Flask, especially on complex applications.
Security
Django is considered one of the most secure frameworks around. It includes built-in security features including encryption packages, a user authentication system, and protection against some of the most common attacks including Clickjacking, XSS, CSRF, SQL injection, and cross-site scripting.
Flask has none of these features included in the framework; instead, developers must use third-party extensions or libraries such as Flask-Security to set up their own security protocols. While this does provide programmers with a bit more freedom of choice, it also requires more work to set up since these protocols aren’t inherent to the framework.
Community
When it comes to community involvement, Django has a clear advantage over Flask. If you look at the number of questions and responses asked about each of these frameworks on Stack Overflow, you’ll see that there are more than 250,000 regarding Django with less than 50,000 on Flask. This trend is also observable on Github: Django has three times as many contributors on Github than Flask, even though Flask has more users. That means if you need help implementing these frameworks, you’re more likely to find assistance with Django.
Django users also seem to be more involved offline; there’s even an annual convention called Djangocon dedicated solely to Django, where enthusiasts gather to discuss the framework and its uses in depth. These differences in community members and involvement could be attributed to the age of each framework. While Django was first introduced in 2005, Flask didn’t come along until five years later. Of course, community support for Flask will likely continue to grow as it becomes more and more popular with developers.
How to Choose Between Django and Flask
When deciding which framework would work best with your project, there are several considerations to keep in mind: the size of the application you’re building, its future growth, the type of project, and how much customization and control is required.
The first thing to consider is the size and type of the project. While Flask works well on simple, static web applications, a more robust framework like Django would be required for applications that are large and complex like social media applications or ecommerce sites. Future growth plans should also be considered when choosing a framework. Flask may be highly extensible, but Django’s many features make it much easier to scale as applications grow.
You should also consider how much control you’d like to have over the framework. If you need to customize the framework to meet unique project specifications, then Flask will be the clear choice. For those projects that don’t require you to fine-tune each component, Django will suffice.
How to Learn Django and Flask
If you consider yourself an excellent self-learner and you already have some knowledge of Python, then you could probably pick up the basics of Django and Flask through the documentation and tutorials provided on their respective websites; Django offers a seven-part tutorial on its official website while Flask provides a quickstart guide for new users.
For those who prefer a more structured method of acquiring new skills, in-person or online classes would be an excellent way to go. While it may be difficult to find classes that are solely dedicated to learning Flask because it’s the newer technology, there are Django courses available. The best route, however, is to take Python classes that will likely cover both Django and Flask as part of the curriculum.
If you’re looking for an even broader education, you might consider enrolling in web development classes or a web development bootcamp. Bootcamps are an especially good choice for those who are looking to embark on a new career in web development; often seen as a viable alternative to university education, bootcamps are intensive programs designed to teach students all the skills necessary to work as a Web Developer after graduation. You can even take web development bootcamps live online so you don’t have to worry about navigating through traffic to get to classes. To find out more about web development classes available in your area, use Noble Desktop’s convenient Classes Near Me tool.