Choosing Between Flask and Django for Your Python Web App

Introduction

Choosing the right framework, Flask with its simplicity or Django with its all-in-one approach is key for a successful project and depends largely on what the project needs and the developer's skills.

Flask

Flask is a micro web framework. It's lightweight and easy to get started with. Here's a basic Flask application.

Step 1. If you haven't installed Flask, you can do so via pip. Open your terminal or command prompt and run.

pip install Flask

Step 2. Create Your Flask Application. Save the below code as appy.py.

from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/')
def hello_world():
    return 'Hello, World!'

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(debug=True)

Step 3. Run the Application.

python app.py

Django

Django is a high-level Python Web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. Here's a basic Django application.

Step 1. Installation: Install Django using pip.

pip install django

Step 2. Create a Project: Start a new Django project.

django-admin startproject myproject

Navigate into your project.

cd myproject

Step 3. Create an App: Inside your project, start a new app.

python manage.py startapp myapp

Step 4. Edit views.py in Your App: In the myapp/views.py file, add.

from django.http import HttpResponse

def hello_world(request):
    return HttpResponse("Hello, World!")

Step 5. Configure URL: In myproject/urls.py, import your view, and add it to the urlpatterns list.

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path
from myapp.views import hello_world

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    path('', hello_world),
]

Step 6. Run the Server: Run your server.

python manage.py runserver

Conclusion

Both frameworks are excellent choices, but the best one depends on the specific needs and scale of your project.