When it comes to Python programming language for web development, there are different options for you, in this article we want to talk about best Python Web Development libraries in 2023.
Python Best Libraries for Web Development in 2023
Python Best Libraries for Web Development in 2023 – There are many libraries in Python that can be used for web development, but some of the most popular ones are:
- Flask – micro web framework that is easy to use and provides flexibility for small projects.
- Django – full featured and high level web framework that is ideal for complex and large scale projects.
- Pyramid – more flexible and less opinionated web framework that can be used for different range of projects, from small to large.
- Tornado – high performance asynchronous web framework that is ideal for real time web applications.
- CherryPy – minimalistic web framework that is easy to use and provides good balance between performance and ease of use.
- Bottle – simple and lightweight web framework that is ideal for small projects and prototypes.
- Flask-RESTful – An extension to Flask that provides simple and easy tools for creating RESTful APIs.
These are just a few examples, and the choice of library depends on the specific requirements and needs of each project.
Now let’s talk in more details about these Python Best Libraries for Web Development in 2023
What is Flask ?
Flask is lightweight Python web framework that provides useful tools and features for creating web applications. It is easy to get started with and provides simple and easy way to create dynamic web pages using Python. Flask is based on the Werkzeug WSGI library and the Jinja2 template engine and it offers flexible way to handle request and response objects, route URLs to views and handle database connections. It is good for small to medium sized web applications, and it can also be easily extended with different plugins and extensions. you can install Flask using pip by running following command in your terminal:
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pip install Flask |
You can also use the following command to install the latest version of Flask:
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pip install -U Flask |
This is basic example of Flask application:
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from flask import Flask # Create a Flask application object app = Flask(__name__) # Create a Flask route @app.route("/") def index(): return "Hello, World!" # Start the Flask application if __name__ == "__main__": app.run() |
In this example the application creates single route that returns string “Hello, World!”. when you run the application, you can access this route by visiting http://localhost:5000/ in your web browser.
What is Django ?
Django is high level Python web framework that enables rapid development of secure and maintainable websites. It follows Model View Template (MVT) architectural pattern and provides full stack framework that includes an ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) system for database access, template engine for HTML rendering and routing system for URL handling. Django also has built in support for user authentication, admin interface and different other common web development features. you can install Django using pip.
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pip install django |
This will download and install the latest version of Django. To verify the installation, run the following command in your terminal or command prompt:
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django-admin --version |
This should display the version number of Django that you have installed.
This is basic example of a Django web application that returns “Hello, World!” in the browser:
- Install Django:
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pip install django |
- Create new Django project:
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django-admin startproject myproject |
- Navigate to the project directory:
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cd myproject |
- Create new Django app:
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python manage.py startapp myapp |
- Edit the myapp/views.py file to create a view that returns “Hello, World!”:
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from django.http import HttpResponse def hello(request): return HttpResponse("Hello, World!") |
- Edit the myapp/urls.py file to map the URL “/” to the hello view:
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from django.urls import path from . import views urlpatterns = [ path('', views.hello, name='hello'), ] |
- Edit the myproject/urls.py file to include the myapp/urls.py file:
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from django.urls import include, path urlpatterns = [ path('', include('myapp.urls')), ] |
- Start the Django development server:
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python manage.py runserver |
- Open web browser and navigate to http://localhost:8000/ to see the “Hello, World!” message.
What is Pyramid ?
Pyramid is an open source web framework for Python, designed to support small to large web applications. it is known for its flexibility and power and is good for different use cases, including simple single page web apps and complex multi tiered applications. Pyramid provides strong foundation for building robust web applications, and includes numerous tools and features for handling tasks such as URL routing, database integration, security and templating. for installing Pyramid you can use the pip:
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pip install pyramid |
After installation, you can start building your first Pyramid web application by creating new project, then adding views and templates to create a dynamic web page.
basic example of Pyramid web application is shown below:
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from pyramid.config import Configurator from pyramid.response import Response from wsgiref.simple_server import make_server def hello_world(request): return Response('Hello World!') if __name__ == '__main__': config = Configurator() config.add_route('hello', '/') config.add_view(hello_world, route_name='hello') app = config.make_wsgi_app() server = make_server('0.0.0.0', 6543, app) server.serve_forever() |
This example sets up a single route (‘/’) that will return the string “Hello World!” when accessed. you can run this code in your terminal/command prompt by navigating to the directory where the code is saved and running the following command:
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python filename.py |
Replace filename.py with the actual name of the file. This will start the Pyramid development server and you should be able to access the Hello World! response by visiting http://0.0.0.0:6543/ in your web browser.
What is Tornado ?
Tornado is Python web framework and asynchronous network library that is designed for handling large amounts of traffic and high performance web applications. It is good for longpolling, WebSockets and other forms of real time data transfer. Tornado is designed to be fast, scalable and non blocking and it makes it popular choice for developing real time web applications and API services. with its simple and straightforward API, Tornado is easy to learn and use for developers with different of backgrounds and experience levels. you can install Tornado using pip:
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pip install tornado |
basic example of Tornado can be a simple HTTP server. this is the code snippet that demonstrates how to set up a basic Tornado web server:
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import tornado.ioloop import tornado.web class MainHandler(tornado.web.RequestHandler): def get(self): self.write("Hello, Tornado!") def make_app(): return tornado.web.Application([ (r"/", MainHandler), ]) if __name__ == "__main__": app = make_app() app.listen(8888) tornado.ioloop.IOLoop.current().start() |
What is CherryPy ?
CherryPy is minimalist web framework for Python, designed for web developers who require solid, fast and scalable tool for building and deploying web applications. CherryPy allows developers to build web applications in much the same way as any other Python module, making the development process quick and easy. It is lightweigh and has low memory footprint, and is capable of handling a high number of requests, making it ideal for high performance and large-scale web applications. CherryPy includes features such as built in web server, support for multiple protocols, pluggable applications and flexible and extensible architecture that allows developers to easily add custom functionality. CherryPy can be installed using pip:
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pip install cherrypy |
This is simple example of a CherryPy application:
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import cherrypy class HelloWorld(object): @cherrypy.expose def index(self): return "Hello World!" if __name__ == '__main__': cherrypy.quickstart(HelloWorld()) |
In this example, the HelloWorld class defines a single endpoint, index, which returns the string “Hello World!” when accessed. The if statement at the bottom starts the CherryPy application. To run this code, save it to a file (e.g., hello.py) and run python hello.py in your terminal.
What is Bottle ?
Bottle is lightweight, fast and simple web framework for Python. It is designed to be easy to use and quick to get started with and it is great choice for small and medium sized projects. Bottle supports different features commonly used in web development, including URL routing, template rendering and request handling. It is often compared to Flask which is another popular web framework for Python, but Bottle has smaller feature set and is better suited to smaller projects. you can install Bottle by running the following command in your terminal:
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pip install bottle |
This is basic example of a web application using the Bottle framework in Python:
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from bottle import Bottle, run app = Bottle() @app.route('/') def index(): return "Hello, World!" run(app, host='localhost', port=8080) |
This code creates a new Bottle application and a single route that returns a string “Hello, World!” when the root URL is accessed. The run method starts a local development server at http://localhost:8080.
What is Flask-RESTful ?
Flask-RESTful is Flask extension that provides simple framework for building REST APIs. It is designed to work with Flask’s simple syntax for defining endpoints and handling request and response data. Flask-RESTful provides features such as request parsing, input validation, output formatting and error handling and it is easy to build REST APIs that adhere to best practices. extension uses the concepts of resources, which map to specific endpoints and representations, which define the data format of the request and response payloads. you can install Flask-RESTful by running the following command in your terminal:
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pip install flask-restful |
This is simple example of RESTful API using Flask-RESTful:
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from flask import Flask from flask_restful import Api, Resource, reqparse app = Flask(__name__) api = Api(app) todos = {} class TodoResource(Resource): def get(self, todo_id): if todo_id in todos: return {todo_id: todos[todo_id]} return {"error": "Todo not found"}, 404 def put(self, todo_id): parser = reqparse.RequestParser() parser.add_argument("task", type=str) args = parser.parse_args() todos[todo_id] = args["task"] return {todo_id: todos[todo_id]} api.add_resource(TodoResource, "/todos/<string:todo_id>") if __name__ == "__main__": app.run(debug=True) |
This code creates RESTful API with single endpoint at /todos/<todo_id>, which allows you to retrieve and update a to-do item represented by its todo_id.