Why is Python so popular? What are the reasons that so many people are learning Python these days? One standard answer: Frameworks. Besides being simple and easy to learn language, Python is backed with wide varieties of framework.
Python framework is a body of pre-written code created to make programming with Python much easier. A framework will often decide the structure of an application.
Types of Python Framework
Python frameworks can be categorized into three types:
Full Stack Framework
A full-stack framework is a framework that provides a one-stop solution that supports front-end development, backend logic, and communication with the database.
A full-stack framework is also known as an enterprise framework. Template layouts, form generation, form validation are usually available with a typical full-stack Python framework.
Micro framework
As the name suggests, microframework is a simple, lightweight, and minimalistic web application framework.
Micro frameworks are best suitable for developing small projects. It lacks most of the functionality, which is common in a full-stack framework. For example, you won’t find a database abstraction feature on them.
Asynchronous Framework
Asynchronous is the latest addition to the Python framework family. It is a microframework that allows developers to handle a broad set of concurrent connections.
Top Python Frameworks Available
Django
Django is the most popular and beloved full-stack framework for developing Python applications. It is an open-source framework that makes things very fast and scalable and encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. It follows the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principle.
Django framework can build almost all kinds of websites, from CMS to news sites to social networks. Some popular websites which use this framework are Instagram, Pinterest, and The Onion.
Django comes with several in-built features and ready to use libraries. So, you can focus on writing your app without any hassle. URL routing, Authentication, URL routing, template engine, an object-relational mapper (ORM), and database schema migrations are some of its features.
Why Django?
- Ridiculously fast
- Fully loaded
- Incredibly versatile
- Exceedingly scalable
- Reassuringly secure
Web2Py
Web2Py is one of the easiest to use full-stack Python frameworks. It has its own web-based IDE, which contains a code editor, debugger, and one-click deployment.
It doesn’t require any installation or configuration, and it uses LDAP for its authentication system. Web2Py is loved by developers because of its ease of use, from setup to learning, coding, distribution, and deployment.
This framework supports various database engines and has in-built security to prevent against common vulnerabilities.
Why Web2Py?
- Backward compatibility
- Data security that prevents vulnerabilities
- Readability of multiple protocols
- Runs on Windows, Mac, Unix/Linux, Google App Engine, Amazon EC2, and almost any web hosting
Pyramid
Flask is a Python micro framework with a lightweight and modular design, making it easily adaptable as needed. Flask requires the Jinja2 template and Werkzeug WSGI toolkit to run.
An essential aspect of the Pyramid is its ability to work with small and full-scale applications with equal ease. You can start with a simple ‘hello world” request and progress to developing large web applications with less effort.
Why Pyramid?
- Single-file applications
- Lightweight and Flexible
- Flexible authentication and authorization
- URL generation
- Predicates and Renderers
CherryPy
CherryPy is one of the oldest open-source micro framework which is both very fast and stable.
CherryPy follows a minimalist approach and allows developers to build web applications in much the same way they would make any other object-oriented Python program. Any CherryPy application is a standalone application with its own embedded multi-threaded web server. These applications will run smoothly on any OS that supports Python.
Why CherryPy?
- Runs on Android
- Powerful configuration system
- A reliable, HTTP/1.1-compliant, WSGI thread-pooled webserver
- Flexible plug-in system
- Customizable and swappable
Flask
Flask is a Python micro framework with a lightweight and modular design, making it easily adaptable as needed. Flask requires the Jinja2 template and Werkzeug WSGI toolkit to run.
Flask allows developers to develop a solid foundation for a web application any way they want. These applications can scale to use any extensions as needed.
Why Flask?
- Built in debugger
- Compatible with Google App Engine
- Open-ended to unique systems
- RESTful request dispatching
- Unicode-based
Bottle
Bottle is an open-source, simple, fast, and lightweight WSGI micro framework on Python. It was initially developed to built APIs and has no external dependencies other than the Python standard library (stdlib).
Bottle is best for prototyping ideas, building simple personal use apps, and learning the organization of web frameworks.
Why Bottle?
- Built-in HTTP server
- Plugins support for different databases
- Minimal and lightweight
- Allows simple access from cookies, data, file uploads, and other HTTP-related metadata
- Provides request dispatching routes having URL parameter support
Tornado
Tornado is an open-source Python framework and an asynchronous networking library. It was initially developed at a company named FriendFeed, which was later acquired by Facebook.
Tornado is an ideal framework for building apps asking for high performance and thousands of concurrent users. It is different from other Python frameworks as it is not based on WSGI, and runs with only one thread per process.
Why Tornado?
- Real-time services
- High Quality Performance
- 3rd party authorization and authentication support
- Supports translation and localization
Sanic
Sanic is a simple and open-source asynchronous framework built on top of the uvloop, which was developed especially for offering fast HTTP responses.
Sanic is developed at MagicStack and is a blazingly fast framework for developing applications.
Why Sanic?
- Class-based views
- Plugin support
- Supports blueprints for sub-routing within an application
- Enables reading and writing of cookies
TurboGears
TurboGears is a full-stack rapid web application development framework in Python. TurboGears 2 is suitable for solving both simple tasks to complex industrial-strength problems.
TurboGears 2 overcomes the limitations of web frameworks like TurboGears 1, Django, and Rails and provides top-notch experience to the developers.
Why TurboGears?
- Rapid Web Application development
- MVC-style architecture
- Available command-line tools
- Multi-database support
- Pylon as a web server support
Dash
Dash is a Python framework built on top of Flask, Plotly.js, React, and React Js. It is the most downloaded and trusted framework for building Machine Learning & data science we applications.
Dash is a full-stack framework and is ideal for people who work with data in Python. Dash apps run on the browser itself, so it is inherently cross-platform and mobile-ready.
Why Dash?
- Allows to build applications using ony Python code
- Cross platform and mobile-ready
- Lightweight and Flexible
- Dash Apps are inherently multi-user apps
- Easy to scale apps to serve thousands of users
Notable Mentions
CubicWeb : Full stack semantic web application framework that uses components called cubes following object oriented design principles.
Hug: Micro-framework which allows to drastically simplify API development over multiple interfaces.
Giotto: A full stack framework exclusive for web applications built in functional styles.
Growler: Asynchronous Framework written atop the async io python library. The framework design was inspired from NodeJS and the Express/Connect frameworks.
Grok: Grok is a web application framework with an emphasis on agile development. It is easy and powerful.