The choice of server-side programming language differs from one web developer to another. Many web developers opt for PHP to take advantage of its built-in web development capabilities. At the same time, many web developers also opt for Python to build web applications with concise, readable, and maintainable code. But no developer can build custom web applications according to diverse business requirements without using the right web framework. A web developer has option to choose from a wide range of web frameworks according to his preferred server-side programming language.
At present, Laravel is more popular than other web frameworks for PHP. Likewise, Django is also more popular than other web frameworks for Python. Here are a few reasons why businesses should invest in Django. As open source web frameworks, both Django and Laravel help users to curtail web application development cost. Also, each of the two web frameworks has been evolving consistently to accelerate development of custom web applications. The smarter web developers always keep in mind the major differences between Django vs Laravel to choose the right web framework.
Comparing Two Widely Used Web Frameworks: Django vs Laravel
Programming Language
As noted earlier, Django is a Python web framework, whereas Laravel is a PHP web framework. Django is written in Python, whereas Laravel is written in PHP. Hence, no developers should ignore the important difference between PHP and Python while comparing these widely used web frameworks. PHP is originally a web programming language. It comes with built-in web development capabilities to simplify and accelerate web application development.
On the other hand, Python is not designed as a web programming language. Despite lacking built-in web development capability, Python enables programmers to write clean, readable, and maintainable code. Hence, many web developers prefer Python to other programming languages to build web applications with concise and maintainable code base. Django makes it easier for programmers to write custom web applications in Python according to varied business requirements.
MVC Architecture
Model-view-controller (MVC) architecture helps developers to build large and complex web applications rapidly by keeping their user interface and business logic layers separated. Most modern web frameworks support MVC programming paradigm. Laravel is designed as a MVC web framework. It enables developers to accelerate development of large and complex web applications by separating their user interface and business logic layers.
They can even take advantage of the Blade template engine provided by the web framework to extend layouts, display data, and compile PHP code into views. Django implements MVC architecture in a different way. It enables developers to divide various components of a web application into models, views, and templates. Also, Django makes various components of a web application communicate with each other seamlessly through specific features – urlresolver, middleware and context processor.
Type of Web Framework
Both Django and Laravel are full-stack web frameworks. In terms of design, Django is a high-level server-side web framework. It enables programmers to add functionality to the web application and perform common web development tasks without writing additional code. The developers can further use the framework to start building web applications directly without concentrating on the infrastructure requirements. Django further makes it easier for developers to conceptualize custom web applications and create prototypes.
As a full-stack web framework, Laravel comes with features to simplify both client-side and server-side web development. As Laravel takes care of common web development tasks, it becomes easier for programmers to accelerate custom web application development. Laravel further enables programmers to work with multiple databases with Eloquent ORM, perform unit testing through PHPUnit, and manage third-party packages through Composer. Hence, most PHP programmers prefer Laravel to other PHP web frameworks to avoid using additional tools.
User Interface
Django simplify web development project management by providing a built-in user interface. The web framework further creates the user interface automatically based on the project model. While using Django, developers can take advantage of the user interface to perform administration tasks and manage website content. Laravel, on the other hand, allows users to choose from a graphical user interface (GUI) and a command line interface (CLI). In addition to managing web development projects through the GUI, the developers can also take advantage of the Artisan command line tool. Artisan makes it easier for programmers to accomplish common web development task by running commands. Also, it allows developers to create custom commands according to their precise needs.
Database Support
Both Laravel and Django allow web developers to work with several widely used databases. Laravel currently supports four widely used databases by default – MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server and PostgreSQL. But it makes it easier for programmers to interact with multiple databases seamlessly by providing Eloquent ORM. At the same time, Django also supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite and Oracle. Django developers also have the option to work with NoSQL databases through third-party projects and forks.
User Authentication
Django comes with a built-in user authentication system, whereas Laravel enables developers to implement a variety of user authentication by providing an authentication library. The web developers can take advantage the built-in authentication system provided by Django to manage user accounts, groups, permissions, and user sessions efficiently. They even have option to customize the authentication system according to precise project requirements. At the same time, the Laravel users can take advantage of the robust authentication library to simplify login page creation, data encryption, and prevent cross-site request forgery (CSRF).
Performance and Speed
Laravel is a feature-rich PHP web framework. The robust features provided by Laravel makes it easier for Laravel PHP developers to build complex web application rapidly. But these additional features make Laravel slower than other PHP web frameworks. Often programmers have to explore ways to improve performance of the web application while using Laravel. Many programmers even opt for Lumen – a lightweight version of Laravel to speed up web applications. On the other hand, Django is much faster than Laravel. It enables developers to speed up web applications without putting extra time and effort.
Usage
Both Laravel and Django find a lot of use in several high traffic websites. But the usage statistics posted on SimilarTech.com indicate that Django is being used by more websites than Laravel. At present, 176419 websites are using Django, whereas Around 95260 websites use Laravel. Also, Laravel is used widely by websites related to specific categories like finance, agriculture and forestry, autos and vehicles, and car buying. On the other hand, Django is currently used by websites belonging to shopping, internet and telecom, business and industry, and art and entertainment. Hence, developers can use any of the two web frameworks to build a variety of websites and web applications.
On the whole, Laravel is a widely used PHP web framework, whereas Django is a popular Python web framework. Hence, a web developer has to either Django or Laravel according to his preferred server-side programming language. Also, he must keep evaluate the pros and cons of each of the two robust web frameworks based on precise needs of individual projects.
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