A Web framework is a collection of packages or modules which allow developers to write Web applications (see WebApplications) or services without having to handle such low-level details as protocols, sockets or process/thread management.
In this article, we share our own list of the top Python web frameworks that we believe will be useful on your way to becoming a professional backend developer and improving your existing skill set. Keep in mind that these frameworks are listed in no particular order.
Django
Django is a free open-source full-stack Python framework. Its use Model-View-Template framework that uses Python for web development. Django tries to include all of the necessary features by default as opposed to offering them as separate libraries. Some of the exemplary features of Django are its authentication, URL routing, template engine, object-relational mapper (ORM), and database schema migrations etc. It follows the Convention Over Configuration pattern and the DRY pattern as well. Security in Django is a serious topic and Django either provides techniques and tools for developers to build a secure website, or implements the security features in the framework itself like preventing code execution in the template layer.
Based upon its power, it’s used by some of the big names such as Google, Youtube, and Instagram. Django boasts its batteries-included feature, which is the bunch of features such as authentication and messaging that Django comes bundled with.
TurboGears
TurboGears is an open-source, data-driven full-stack web application framework. It allows you to quickly develop extensible data-driven web applications. TurboGears comes with user-friendly templating and a powerful and flexible ORM. It enables developers to start building web applications with minimal setup. TurboGears supports multiple databases and data exchange formats, along with horizontal data partitioning. At the same time, it allows developers to simplify custom web application development by using various JavaScript development tools.
Web2Py
Free open source full-stack framework for rapid development of fast, scalable, secure and portable database-driven web-based applications. Web2Py simplifies custom web application development by including useful batteries like a web server, SQL database, and web-based interface. And another great thing about Web2py, though, is that it comes with its own web-based IDEwhich, among other things, includes a code editor, debugger, and one-click deployment. Developers can build database-driven web applications by working with several widely used relational database management systems. At the same time, Web2Py helps developers to implement MVC programming paradigm and prevent common security vulnerabilities.
CubicWeb
CubicWeb is used for semantic web applications. In addition to following common object-oriented programming principles, CubicWeb further accelerates custom web application development by providing reusable components called cubes. Its main features are:
- An engine driven by the explicit data model of the application
- A query language named RQL similar to W3C’s SPARQL
- A selection+view mechanism for semi-automatic XHTML/XML/JSON/text generation
- A library of reusable components (data model and views) that fulfill common needs
- The power and flexibility of the Python programming language
- The reliability of SQL databases, LDAP directories, Subversion and Mercurial for storage backends
Grok
Grok is a web application framework for Python developers. It is aimed at both beginners and very experienced web developers. Its developed based on Zope Toolkit technology. Grok enables Python developers to accelerate web application development by using Zope Toolkit as a set of libraries.
You will likely have heard about many different web frameworks for Python as well as other languages. Why you should you consider Grok?
- Grok offers a lot of building blocks for your web application
- Grok is informed by a lot of hard-earned wisdom
Zope
Zope is a free and open source web application server written in the object-oriented programming language “Python”. The developers can further extend Zope according to their precise needs through Python code. Unlike other web frameworks, Zope is an object-oriented web application development platform. It used to develop Content Management Framework and Application Server. Its specializing in content management solutions, portal content management, and custom applications.
Bottle
Bottle is a microframework. It is even distributed as a single file module, while taking advantage of the Python standard library. Originally meant for building APIs, Bottle implements everything in a single source file. Bottle is awesome for a few web development situations:
- Prototyping ideas
- Learning how web frameworks are built
- Building and running simple personal web applications
Flask
The micro web framework for Python is developed based on Jinja 2 templating language. Its available under the BSD license. It was inspired by the Sinatra Ruby framework. Flask accelerated web application development by providing a built-in debugger and development server. It further supports secure cookies, integrated unit testing, RESTful request dispatching. It includes a number of useful out-of-the-box features:
- Built-in development server and a fast debugger
- Integrated support for unit testing
- RESTful request dispatching
- Jinja2 templating
- Secure cookies support (client-side sessions)
- WSGI 1.0 compliance
- Unicode-based
- Ability to plug in any ORM
- HTTP request handling
Pyramid
Pyramid is a small, fast, down-to-earth Python web framework. It is developed as part of the Pylons Project. It is licensed under a BSD-like license. The features provided by Pyramid help developers to build small web applications rapidly. But the developers can also use the Python web framework to convert the small web applications into large web applications. In addition to handling web requests and responses efficiently, Pyramid also accelerates custom web application development by providing features like routing, view classes, templating and static assets. Some of Pyramid’s great features include:
- URL generation
- Extensible configuration
- Function decorators
- Renderers
- Testing, support, and comprehensive data documentation
- All-embracing templating and asset specifications
