Comparison of FastAPI with Django and Flask
For starters, as you may know, Python is an interpreted programming language that is becoming more and more popular for building web applications. However, there are numerous web frameworks to choose from but they all have different use cases. In this article, we will look at 3 frameworks which are :
- Django – It follows the model-template-view architectural pattern and a DRY principle (Don’t Repeat Yourself).
- Flask – This is based on the Werkzeug WSGI toolkit and Jinja2 template engine.
- FastAPI – It is a micro-web-framework based on Pydantic and type hints.
After reading this article, you’ll be able to compare these frameworks based on various factors like Efficiency, Readability, Use Case, etc. which should help you make a better choice for your web application.
What is Django?
Django is an open-source full-stack web framework written in Python that follows the MTV (model-template-view) architectural pattern and a DRY principle (Don’t Repeat Yourself). It was made by Adrian Holovaty and Simon Willison and was publicly published in 2005. The name given is based on the singer Django Reinhardt. For more information regarding Django, you can read this article.
What is Flask?
Flask is an open-source beginner-friendly micro-web framework written in Python that follows the MVC (model-view-controller) architectural pattern and supports Jinja templates, which can be used to create views. It was made by Armin Ronacher of Pocoo, an international group of Python enthusiasts formed in 2004. The name “Flask” is a reference to the earlier Bottle framework. For more information regarding Flask, you can read this article.
What is FastAPI?
FastAPI is also an open-source Starlette-ASGI (Asynchronous Server Gateway Interface) micro-web framework written in Python used to create RESTful APIs. It was made by Sebastián Ramírez in December 2018. The name is based on the speed to develop API hence ‘FastAPI’. For more information regarding Flask, you can read this article.
Comparison Between FastAPI vs Django
Parameters |
Django |
FastAPI |
Flask |
---|---|---|---|
Type |
Full-stack web framework |
Micro-web framework |
Micro-web framework |
Use Case |
Build complex web applications & APIs |
Build APIs & Microservices |
Ideal for building small web applications and simple APIs |
Performance |
Fast for building large web application |
Very Fast for building APIs and Microservices |
Slower because of manual validation and synchronized programming. |
Scalability |
Scalable but it’s ORM and template engine can make it slower to scale |
Highly Scalable, as it uses asynchronize code and type annoations. |
Difficult to scale as there is no in-built support for ORM or caching. |
Learning Curve |
Complex for beginners |
Simple for beginners |
Moderate for beginners |
Database Tools |
Comprehensive set |
Limited, no built-in support |
Limited, no built-in support |
Asynchronous Programming |
Yes, can be done with help of Asyncio but little slower. |
Yes, but faster beacuse of Pydantic. |
No, but can we done using other libraries. |
ORM (Object-relational mapping) |
Yes |
No |
No |
Community |
Large and active |
Small but growing |
Large and active |
Documentation |
Huge |
Small but still growing |
Big |
Advantages |
It is a great choice who want to build web applications that are secure, scalable, flexible, and easy to maintain |
It is a great choice for building fast performance APIs and microservices |
It is a great choice to build small to medium level web application and where performance is not much of a issue and developer need flexibility. |
Disadvantages |
It can be Complex for beginners, hard to debug and not suitable for small projects |
Main files can we crowdy and lack of built-in security. |
No built-in support for caching, ORM, asynchronization, etc |
Basic Code: FastAPI
Let’s compare same code in different frameworks.
Example: Here is a simple example of how to create a GET endpoint in FastAPI:
Python3
from fastapi import FastAPI app = FastAPI() @app .get( "/" ) def hello(): return { "Hello" : "World" } |
Asynchronize Code using FastAPI:
Python3
from fastapi import FastAPI app = FastAPI() @app .get( "/" ) async def hello(): return { "Hello" : "World" } |
Basic Code: Flask
Example: Here is the same example in Flask
Python3
from flask import Flask app = Flask(__name__) @app .route( "/" , methods = [ "GET" ]) def hello(): return "Hello World" if __name__ = = '__main__' : app.run(debug = True ) |
Basic Code: Django
Example: Here is the same example in Django.
myapp/views.py
Python3
from django.http import HttpResponse def hello(request): return HttpResponse( "Hello World" ) |
myapp/urls.py
Python3
from django.urls import path from .views import home_page_view urlpatterns = [ path(" ", hello, name=" home"), ] |
myproject/urls.py
Python3
from django.contrib import admin from django.urls import path, include urlpatterns = [ path( "admin/" , admin.site.urls), path(" ", include(" pages.urls")), ] |
Output: Output for all the frameworks will be the same; the port number will differ according to the framework.
Framework |
Default Port Number |
---|---|
FastAPI |
8000 |
Flask |
5000 |
Django |
8000 |
Also, the creation and execution of your file will differ according to the framework.
FastAPI
Flask
Django
Conclusion
Therefore now we can conclude that we can use FastAPI for its high performance in API development, Flask can be used to build small to medium projects with great flexibility, and Django to build feature-rich, large-scale applications.
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