Today in the programming world you have various programming languages available for web development like PHP, JavaScript, Java, and many more. But here in this article, we are going to talk particularly about Python for web development. Well, Python is a famous programming language used for web development, scientific computing, Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science. So there are some reasons why users like python because it is quite simple and easy to learn. In addition, using Python you can make web applications at a fast rate. However, you must be familiar with what is Python if not, I will give you a brief introduction to it.

What is Python and why use it for web development?

However, Python is a general-purpose programming language used for coding, software development, data science, back end development, and web development. In other words, Python focuses on code readability and efficiency which means you have to use English keywords.  It is used by Disqus, NASA, PBS, and Reddit for their websites. So the reason that why python is used for web development is that it has pre-built libraries and web frameworks to use. Above all, using python you can save your lot of time to spend on projects. In conclusion, you can say python is used more for web development because it needs more functions and very less code.

What are Python Frameworks?

Before understanding what a python framework is, you have to understand what a framework is. A framework usually consists of some packages and modules. They provide specific functionality and you can change them also according to the requirement need for the application. Frameworks provide you the flexibility to focus only on the logic of application rather than the basic process. They usually make available the app structure to the user. There are several Python frameworks available. So before choosing any framework try to understand why you need it.

Overall you can say that frameworks provide a fast, trustworthy, and easy pattern in any web application. Commonly used python frameworks are Django and Pyramid. Here you have to be aware of few operations needed to be used in web applications.

  • Routing of URL
  • Validation and handling of an input form
  • Use of template engine for the Output format
  • Connection to database
  • Security of web
  • Storage and retrieval of session

Why use Python Frameworks?

The main advantage of using python for web development is its flexible Frameworks that make development very simple and fast. These frameworks allow users to write an app or site rather than writing complex code. In short, you can say using the python framework you have to write less code for your web development. Using a framework allows you to focus on website development rather than start from the beginning.

So you can develop highly scalable websites using python frameworks and websites made will be more secure. In addition, other features of the python frameworks that give huge benefits to developers are open source, efficiency, Security, Integration, and Good documentation. They help developers to reuse the code for HTTP operations. Above all, If you will use a framework it be quite easy for you to maintain and build your web application. Therefore by using frameworks even you can extend flexibility features.

In this article, I am going to provide a list of various python framework by differentiating them between three categories. Although there are many other frameworks are also available who differ in functionality and features. Here is a list of Full-stack, Micro, and Asynchronous frameworks as follows:

Full-Stack Frameworks

These frameworks provide validation, generators to make forms, and layout of templates. They are a type of one-stop solution for developers.

  • Django

  • TurboGears

  • Giotto

  • CubicWeb

  • Pylon

  • Web2py

  • Pyramid

Micro Frameworks

In these frameworks, developers have to add additional coding themselves to get additional functionalities and features. They are lightweight and developers have to add more code manually.

  • Flask

  • Bottle

  • CherryPy

  • Hug

  • Dash

  • Pycnic

  • Falcon

  • Morepath

Asynchronous Frameworks

They are like micro frameworks and handles large concurrent connections. These frameworks make use of the Asyncio library of programming language.

  • AIOHTTP

  • Growler

  • Sanic

  • Tornado

Let’s start with each framework:

Django Framework

It is a free, open-source, and full-stack framework of Python for web development. It has various features that’s why it is used to a large extent. This framework makes use of ORM mappers to map objects and database tables. The ORM is actually a library of code to manipulate data from the database. Django Software Foundation developed Django in July 2005. It is having a vast library collection. It supports various web servers also. Various companies like Instagram, Pinterest, Disqus, and Mozilla use this framework.

Django works on various databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, and Oracle. Some other features of this framework are as follows:

  • ORM or Object Relational Mapper
  • Easy coding
  • Follows DRY principle
  • Takes less time to create web applications
  • Template Engine
  • Routing the URL
  • Authenticity
  • Migration of database schemas
  • MVC-MVT architecture
  • You can find it at the official site https://www.djangoproject.com/ and install it from https://pypi.org/project/Django/.

TurboGears Framework

It was developed by Mark Ramm and Kevin Dangoor. This free framework is full-stack, open-source, and data-driven. To use a database, this framework provides you various components like Webob, SQLAlchemy, Repoze, and Genshi. This framework overcomes the cons of Django and rails. It begins as a single file application and can be extended later. It makes use of ORM supporting multi-database. Other features of it are:

Giotto Framework

The framework is full-stack. This framework uses the MVC pattern. It makes separation within the model, controller, and view to efficiently perform functions. This framework allows you to create web applications on IRC and command line. Other features of this framework are:

CubicWeb Framework

Logilab developed this framework that is semantic, free and open source. It uses a data model structure. If you need a functional application, you have to define the data model. In this framework, you have to combine various cubes with the help of a database, server, and configuration file. This framework makes advance use of reusability, quality, and profit and allows the use of 3D shapes for building web applications. Here are some other features of it are as follows:

Pylon Framework

It is an open-source, full-stack, and lightweight web framework that was released in the year December 2010. You can rapidly develop applications using this framework. The framework allows flexibility for development. This framework is now in its maintenance phase. This framework consists of the best features and elements of various programming languages like Perl, Ruby, and Python. It makes use of WSGI to provide reusability of code. There are some other features as follows:

Web2py Framework

This is a full-stack, open-source, cross-platform, and scalable framework. It works with its own IDE having various tools like code editor, debugger, and deployment. The framework was developed by Massimo De Pierro. It is freely available and released in year September 2007. You can create dynamic python web content using this framework. It doesn’t provide support to Python3. In case of any error, this framework issues a ticket to trace error status. It follows the MVC pattern. Some additional features of this framework are as follows:

  • No need for installation and configuration prerequisites
  • Able to read multiple protocols
  • Runs on various platforms
  • Enables data security
  • Make use of Built-in components to handle HTTP request, responses, session, and cookies
  • An error tracking mechanism is provided.
  • Access control based on role
  • Backward compatibility
  • Data security
  • You can install it from the link https://pypi.org/search/?q=web2py and check complete documentation from the link http://www.web2py.com/.

Pyramid Framework

It is a full-stack and lightweight framework. You can use it for scaling web applications. You can make APIs using this framework. Various high profile companies like Mozilla, Yelp, and dropbox use this framework. This framework is having moderate multifaceted nature. The framework is quite useful for beginners and provides quality. It supports an extension, configuration, and add-ons. Some other features are:

  • Supports approval and validation
  • Applications are single documented
  • Providing resource details and templating
  • Works with full-scale applications
  • Availability of various assets
  • Supports flexible authentication and authorization
  • Provides predicates, renderers, and function decorators
  • You can install it from the link https://pypi.org/project/pyramid/ and get detail about this framework from the link https://trypyramid.com/.

Flask Framework

It is a lightweight Werkzeug, a micro framework that provides modular design. This framework can easily adapt to developer needs. The founder of this framework is Armin Ronacher. It doesn’t support a few tools and libraries. The abstraction layer for the database is not provided by this framework. It has an inbuilt unit testing system and debugger. It is completely WSGI 1.0 compliant. Companies like LinkedIn and Pinterest use this framework. Some other features are:

  • Fast debugging
  • Jinja2 Template
  • In-build development server
  • Provides unit testing
  • Based on Unicode
  • Werkzeug WSGI compliance
  • Handles HTTP requests
  • Supports secure sessions between client and server
  • Restful request dispatching
  • It can be installed from the link https://pypi.org/project/Flask/ and documentation is available at link https://flask.palletsprojects.com/en/1.1.x/.

Bottle Framework

It is an easy and lightweight WSGI framework. The framework is a type of micro-framework used for making APIs. This framework makes use of a single source file for implementation purposes. It doesn’t support any dependency except the Python library. Marcel Hellkemp developed this framework. You can use this framework for making simple personal use of apps and prototyping. Netflix makes use of this framework for making web interfaces. Few features of this framework are:

  • Provides third party template engines and routing
  • Accesses data of form, file uploading, and cookies
  • Abstraction layer
  • Request dispatching routes are provided
  • Different database plug-in support
  • Having inbuilt HTTP server
  • Supports WSGI based HTTP server
  • The documentation link for it is https://bottlepy.org/docs/dev/ and the installation link is https://pypi.org/project/bottle/.

CherryPy Framework

This is an open-source, object-oriented, and micro-framework. It is developed by Remi Delon and released in the year 2002. In this framework, the task of making web applications very easy. You can use any technology to create a template and access data because of its very stable framework. It supports a multi-threaded web server and is very fast.  It is very useful to handle cookies, files, and sessions. Web applications made using this framework can run on Windows, Linux, Unix, and macOS. The desktop application made by this framework has its own multi-thread web server. Other features of this framework are:

  • WSGI based
  • Able to run many HTTP servers
  • Authenticity
  • Cache support
  • Supporting Apache and IIS server
  • Encoding support
  • In build testing
  • Inbuilt plugging facility
  • Able to run on different platforms
  • You can install it from the link https://pypi.org/project/CherryPy/ and read its documentation from the link https://cherrypy.org/.

Hug Framework

It is a micro-framework used to make APIs. This framework provides various interfaces that is why it is easy to develop API and use it later anywhere. It is highly compatible with python3. You can quickly and easily develop locally and on HTTP by using this framework. This framework makes use of Cython for compiling and resources on need. Few other features are:

  • Supports validation which is annotation powered
  • Availability of automatic documentation
  • Automatic management of version
  • Compliance with Cython
  • Works as python library also
  • Supports philosophy of write once and use anywhere
  • You can install it from the link https://pypi.org/project/hug/ and read its documentation from the link http://www.hug.rest/.

Dash Framework

This is a micro-framework that is open source. It is mainly used by information researchers. Initially, it provides user interface controls, and later you can do modifications according to requirements. You can make dashboards using this framework. The dash web application has two parts. The first part describes the design of the application and the second part tells about the application intuition. You can make use of HTML classes in this framework to create HTML content. Applications build in this framework can run on the flask and uses JSON bundles. You can develop versatile and cross-stage applications with this framework. Few other features are:

  • Handles errors
  • Uses LDAP join
  • Supports URL directing
  • Easy interface
  • Supports modules and plug-in
  • Requires less boilerplate code
  • Supports customization
  • You can download it from the link https://pypi.org/project/dash/ and documentation is available at link https://plotly.com/dash/.

Pycnic Framework

This framework is object-oriented and micro. You can use a framework for making JSON web APIs. It works very fast and needs fewer setup requirements. The applications built using this framework are small, standalone, and optimized. Other key features of it are as follows:

Falcon Framework

It is a micro-framework used for making APIs. The framework is very famous among developers. It doesn’t make use of various dependencies. It supports HTTP and REST architectures. Many big companies like LinkedIn, OpenStack, and Rackspace use this framework. This framework uses a highly optimized and extensible codebase. It has some other features also:

  • Supports the DRY principle
  • Make use of URI templates
  • Uses Request and Response classes
  • Make use of Cython for a speed boost
  • Provides HTTP error response
  • Availability of unit testing
  • Easy access to headers
  • Uses resource classes that are REST-based
  • Provides exception handling
  • You can get its installation from link https://pypi.org/project/falcon/ and documentation from link https://falconframework.org/.

Morepath Framework

This micro framework is super-powered. It requires a minimum setup structure. This framework is introduced so that you can run code as soon as possible. It provides flexibility and model-driven. The main feature of this framework is that it automatically creates links from paths that are defined in the framework. The URLs made later are also clean. Here are various other features of it are:

AIOHTTP Framework

It is an asynchronous python framework that is compatible with python3.5. This framework uses the Asyncio library. It sometimes works as a client framework also. It makes use of request objects and router to redirect queries to functions. Some other features are:

Also Read: 49 Best Packages for Python

Growler Framework

It is NodeJS and Express/Connect inspired asynchronous framework. It is based on asyncio library. In this framework, requests are passed through middleware to process them. It is quite used for building complex applications. It was developed to make asyncio library easy to learn. Some other features of it are:

Sanic Framework

It is a very simple, easy, and open-source framework. It is fast as compared to the Flask framework. Using asynchronous request handling, a quick response can be provided to the HTTP server. This framework has the ability to process 33,342 requests within a second. It is highly compatible with python3.5 functions. This framework offers nonblocking capabilities and supports asynchronous request handlers. It has various other features also as:

  • Ability to read and write cookies
  • Provides class-based views
  • Supports various plug-in
  • Needs blueprints for sub routing
  • Provides access and error logs
  • Availability of Decorators
  • Modification of the configuration object is easy
  • Its installation link is https://pypi.org/project/sanic/ and the documentation link is https://sanic.readthedocs.io/en/latest/.

Tornado Framework

Bret Taylor and Ben Darnell developed this Tornado framework. It is an open-source and asynchronous framework. It provides very high performance. In addition, you can assume it as a kind of administration library that supports various simultaneous associations. It can handle more than 10,000 connections at one time using non-blocking network input /output. This framework is used in surveying applications. Several other features are:

  • User authentication
  • Results in high-quality output
  • Allows restrictions and interpretations
  • Nonblocking HTTP client
  • Web templating
  • Easy implementation of third party authorization like Google
  • A good framework for HTTP and JSON administration
  • Supports use of outer validation and approval
  • Administrations are constant
  • The link for installation is https://pypi.org/project/tornado/ and documentation is https://www.tornadoweb.org/en/latest/.

Conclusion

However, through this article, I just tried to give you an idea of why Python is the best language for development and after that about different python frameworks. For instance, you can think of python as a versatile language used for various domains like web development, AI, data science, and machine learning. Each framework has its own pros and cons. Therefore It’s your choice that which one framework you use according to the requirement of your website. But the most commonly used framework for business requirements is Django. In other words, Flask is the first choice of small and enterprise-level organizations. 

After that, I just hope you will be able to find your required framework from the available list. However, keep in mind the features and functions provided by every framework and survey every framework at its original website whose link is provided as https://wiki.python.org/moin/WebFrameworks. So tell me which framework you are going to use. Even if I made any mistake in the article do correct me through comments.