<html lang="en"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">

<meta charset="utf-8">

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">

<meta name="author" content="Matt Makai">

<link rel="shortcut icon" href="theme/img/fsp-fav.png">

<title>Web Frameworks - Full Stack Python</title>

<!--[if lt IE 9]>

<style>

.toc-indent {padding-left: 25px;}

.toc-more-indent {padding-left: 37px;}

</style>

<script>

(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){

(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),

m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)

})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');

ga('create', 'UA-19910497-7', 'auto');

ga('send', 'pageview');

</script> </head>

<a href="https://github.com/makaimc/fullstackpython.github.com"><img style="position: absolute; top: 0; right: 0; border: 0;" src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/a6677b08c955af8400f44c6298f40e7d19cc5b2d/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f6769746875622f726962626f6e732f666f726b6d655f72696768745f677261795f3664366436642e706e67" alt="Fork me on GitHub" data-canonical-src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/github/ribbons/forkme_right_gray_6d6d6d.png"></a>

<div class="container">

<div class="row">

<div class="col-md-12">

<div class="logo-header-section">

<a href="/" style="text-decoration: none; border: none;"><img src="theme/img/fsp-logo.png" height="52" width="52" class="logo-image" style="padding-top: 1px;" alt="Full Stack Python logo"></a>

<span class="logo-title"><a href="/">Full Stack Python</a></span>

</div>

</div>

</div><div class="row">

<div class="col-md-8">

<h1>Web frameworks</h1>

<p>A web framework is a code library that makes a developer's life easier when

building reliable, scalable and maintainable web applications.</p>

<h2>Why are web frameworks necessary?</h2>

<p>Web frameworks encapsulate what developers have learned over the past twenty

years while programming sites and applications for the web. Frameworks make

it easier to reuse code for common HTTP operations and to structure projects

so developers with knowledge of the framework can more quickly build and

maintain the application.</p>

<h2>Common web framework functionality</h2>

<p>Frameworks provide functionality in their code or through extensions to

perform common operations required to run web applications. These common

operations include:</p>

<li>URL routing</li>

<li>HTML, XML, JSON, and other output format templating</li>

<li>Database manipulation</li>

<li>Security against Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) and other attacks</li>

<p>Not all web frameworks include code for all of the above

functionality. Frameworks fall somewhere between simply executing a

single use case and attempting to be everything to every developer with

increased complexity. Some frameworks take the "batteries-included" approach

where everything possible comes bundled with the framework while others

have a minimal code library that plays well with extensions.</p>

<p>For example, the Django web application framework includes an

Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) layer that abstracts relational database

read, write, query, and delete operations. However, Django's ORM

cannot work without significant modification on non-relational databases such as

<a href="http://www.mongodb.org/">MongoDB</a>.

Some other web frameworks such as Flask and Pyramid are easier to

use with non-relational databases by incorporating external Python libraries.

There is a spectrum between minimal functionality with easy extensibility and

including everything in the framework with tight integration.</p>

<h2>General web framework resources</h2>

<p>"<a href="http://www.jeffknupp.com/blog/2014/03/03/what-is-a-web-framework/">What is a web framework?</a>"

by <a href="https://twitter.com/jeffknupp">Jeff Knupp</a>

is an in-depth explanation of what web frameworks are and their relation

to web servers.</p>

<p>Check out the answer to the

"<a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4507506/what-is-a-web-framework-how-does-it-compare-with-lamp">What is a web framework and how does it compare to LAMP?</a>"

question on Stack Overflow.</p>

<p><a href="http://youtu.be/W6KCPXl6Zuc">Frameworks</a> is a really well done short video

that explains how to choose between web frameworks. The author has some

particular opinions about what should be in a framework. For the most part

I agree although I've found sessions and database ORMs to be a helpful

part of a framework when done well.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.airpair.com/python/posts/django-flask-pyramid">Django vs Flask vs Pyramid: Choosing a Python Web Framework</a>

contains background information and code comparisons for similar

web applications built in these three big Python frameworks.</p>

<p>This <a href="http://www.konstruktor.ee/blog/python-web-framework-roundup/">Python web framework roundup</a>

covers Django, Flask and Bottle as well as several other lesser known Python

frameworks.</p>

<p>This fascinating blog post takes a look at the

<a href="http://grokcode.com/864/snakefooding-python-code-for-complexity-visualization/">code complexity of several Python web frameworks</a>

by providing visualizations based on their code bases.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/2les4x/what_frameworks_do_you_use_and_why_are_they/">What web frameworks do you use and why are they awesome?</a>

is a language agnostic Reddit discussion on web frameworks. It's interesting

to see what programmers in other languages like and dislike about their

suite of web frameworks compared to the main Python frameworks.</p>

<h2>Web frameworks learning checklist</h2>

<p><i class="fa fa-check-square-o"></i>

Choose a major Python web framework (<a href="/django.html">Django</a> or

<a href="/flask.html">Flask</a> are recommended) and stick with it. When you're just

starting it's best to learn one framework first instead of bouncing around

trying to understand every framework. </p>

<p><i class="fa fa-check-square-o"></i>

Work through a detailed tutorial found within the resources links on the

framework's page.</p>

<p><i class="fa fa-check-square-o"></i>

Study open source examples built with your framework of choice so you can

take parts of those projects and reuse the code in your application.</p>

<p><i class="fa fa-check-square-o"></i>

Build the first simple iteration of your web application then go to

the <a href="/deployment.html">deployment</a> section to make it accessible on the

web.</p>

<h3>Which web framework do you want to learn about?</h3>

<div class="row">

<div class="col-md-3">

<div class="well select-next">

<a href="/django.html" class="btn btn-success btn-full"><i class="fa fa-terminal fa-inverse fa-2x"></i></a>

<p class="under-btn">

Tell me more about the Django framework.

</p>

</div>

</div>

<div class="col-md-3">

<div class="well select-next">

<a href="/flask.html" class="btn btn-success btn-full"><i class="fa fa-flask fa-2x"></i></a>

</a>

<p class="under-btn">

I want to learn more about the Flask web framework.

</p>

</div>

</div>

<div class="col-md-3">

<div class="well select-next">

<a href="/bottle.html" class="btn btn-success btn-full"><i class="fa fa-tint fa-inverse fa-2x"></i></a>

<p class="under-btn">

Show me more information on Bottle.

</p>

</div>

</div>

<div class="col-md-3">

<div class="well select-next">

<a href="/other-web-frameworks.html" class="btn btn-success btn-full"><i class="fa fa-question fa-inverse fa-2x"></i></a>

<p class="under-btn">

What other Python web frameworks exist?

</p>

</div>

</div>

</div> <div id="mc_embed_signup">

<form action="//mattmakai.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=b7e774f0c4f05dcebbfee183d&amp;id=b22335388d" method="post" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" class="validate" target="_blank" novalidate>

<div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll">

<h4>Interested in major updates to this site or an alert when a complete Full Stack Python book with detailed example code is released? Sign up here and you'll an occasional email only when there's big news to report.</h4>

<div class="row">

<div class="col-md-9">

<input type="email" value="" name="EMAIL" class="email form-control" id="mce-EMAIL" placeholder="email address" required>

<div style="position: absolute; left: -5000px;"><input type="text" name="b_b7e774f0c4f05dcebbfee183d_b22335388d" tabindex="-1" value=""></div>

</div>

<div class="col-md-3">

<div class="clear"><input type="submit" value="Subscribe" name="subscribe" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" class="btn btn-success" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"></div>

</div>

</div>

</div>

</div>

<div class="col-md-offset-1 col-md-3" id="sidebar">

<div class="panel panel-success">

<div class="panel-heading">

<h3 class="panel-head"><a href="/table-of-contents.html" style="color: #fff;">Table of Contents</a></h3>

</div>

<div class="list-group">

<a href="/introduction.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Introduction</a>

<a href="/why-use-python.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Why Use Python?</a>

<a href="/development-environments.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Development Environments</a>

<a href="/vim.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Vim</a>

<a href="/best-python-resources.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Best Python Resources</a>

<a href="/web-frameworks.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item active">Web Frameworks</a>

<a href="/django.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Django</a>

<a href="/flask.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Flask</a>

<a href="/bottle.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Bottle</a>

<a href="/pyramid.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Pyramid</a>

<a href="/morepath.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Morepath</a>

<a href="/other-web-frameworks.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Other Web Frameworks</a>

<a href="/web-design.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Web Design</a>

<a href="/cascading-style-sheets.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Cascading Style Sheets</a>

<a href="/javascript.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">JavaScript</a>

<a href="/websockets.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">WebSockets</a>

<a href="/web-application-security.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Web Application Security</a>

<a href="/databases.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Databases</a>

<a href="/no-sql-datastore.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">NoSQL Data Stores</a>

<a href="/application-programming-interfaces.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Application Programming Interfaces</a>

<a href="/api-integration.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">API Integration</a>

<a href="/api-creation.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">API Creation</a>

<a href="/deployment.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Deployment</a>

<a href="/servers.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Servers</a>

<a href="/platform-as-a-service.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Platform-as-a-service</a>

<a href="/operating-systems.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Operating Systems</a>

<a href="/web-servers.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Web Servers</a>

<a href="/wsgi-servers.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">WSGI Servers</a>

<a href="/source-control.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Source Control</a>

<a href="/application-dependencies.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Application Dependencies</a>

<a href="/static-content.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Static Content</a>

<a href="/task-queues.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Task Queues</a>

<a href="/configuration-management.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Configuration Management</a>

<a href="/continuous-integration.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Continuous Integration</a>

<a href="/logging.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Logging</a>

<a href="/monitoring.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Monitoring</a>

<a href="/web-analytics.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Web Analytics</a>

<a href="/docker.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Docker</a>

<a href="/caching.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Caching</a>

<a href="/code-metrics.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Code Metrics</a>

<a href="/what-full-stack-means.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">What "Full Stack" Means</a>

<a href="/change-log.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Change Log</a>

<a href="/future-directions.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Future Directions</a>

<a href="/about-author.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">About the Author</a>

</div>

</div>

<div class="panel panel-success">

<div class="panel-heading"><h3 class="panel-head">Web Frameworks</h3></div>

<div class="panel-body">

Need more detailed tutorials and walkthroughs than you see here?

<a href="/email.html">Sign up for an email alert when that content is created.</a>

<hr/>

<a href="/">Full Stack Python</a> is an open book that explains

concepts in plain language and provides the most helpful resources

on those topics.

<hr/>

<a href="http://twitter.com/mattmakai">Matt Makai</a> built

this site with appreciated assistance from

<a href="https://github.com/makaimc/fullstackpython.github.com/pulls">pull requests</a>.

</div>

</div>

<hr/>

<div class="footer pull-right">

<a href="http://www.mattmakai.com/" class="underline">Matt Makai</a>

2015

</div>

</div>

<link href="theme/css/f.min.css" rel="stylesheet">

<link href="//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.1.0/css/font-awesome.css" rel="stylesheet">