Comparing Python Web Frameworks
An in-depth look at Django, Flask, and FastAPI for web development
Python offers several excellent frameworks for web development. In this article, we'll compare three of the most popular options: Django, Flask, and FastAPI.
Django: The Batteries-Included Framework
Django is a high-level Python web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. It follows the 'batteries-included' philosophy, providing many built-in features out of the box.
Installing Django
pip install django
Creating a new Django project
django-admin startproject myproject
Flask: The Microframework
Flask is a lightweight WSGI web application framework. It is designed to make getting started quick and easy, with the ability to scale up to complex applications.
Installing Flask
pip install flask
A simple Flask application
from flask import Flask app = Flask(name)
@app.route('/') def hello_world(): return 'Hello, World!'
FastAPI: Modern, Fast, and Async
FastAPI is a modern, fast (high-performance), web framework for building APIs with Python 3.6+ based on standard Python type hints.
Installing FastAPI
pip install fastapi uvicorn
A simple FastAPI application
from fastapi import FastAPI
app = FastAPI()
@app.get('/') def read_root(): return {'Hello': 'World'}
Each framework has its strengths and is suited for different types of projects. Django is great for large applications with many features, Flask is perfect for smaller projects and microservices, and FastAPI excels at building high-performance APIs.