Table of Content
What is Web Development?Why is Python a good choice for web development?
Web frameworks for Python
Which of the two should you use, Flask or Django?
How can I create a Flask-based Python web application?
One of the most well-liked and adaptable programming languages, Python may be used to create a variety of applications. Python gives programmers the ability to create server-side or backend code for web applications. Several frameworks and packages are also included. In light of this, we will attempt to demystify Python-based web development in this blog post. One of the most popular languages for creating web apps is Python. You can use it to complete a variety of activities, including web development. Python can be used to create web applications in a variety of contexts, including server-side web applications, RESTful web APIs, etc. It can be challenging and daunting to get started with Python because there are so many different ways you can use it to create web apps. As a result, in this blog post, we'll first talk about web development before getting into how to use Python for web development. If you are interested in Digital Marketing or Graphic Designing and want to learn these interesting courses then click on the links mentioned Digital Marketing Course and Graphic Designing course
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What is Web Development?
Web development is a fairly broad area, but generally speaking, it refers to creating software that can be viewed online through a web browser. There are two parts to a web application: the front end and the back end.
Frontend
The portion of a web application that controls what users can view, interact with, and how those interactions should appear is called the front end. It is what users see when they go to a URL to access a web application on their web browser. A web application's front-end developer is responsible for controlling interactions with web servers, retrieving data, displaying it in the application, and sending it back to the server to be saved or modified, such as in a tweet or blog post, etc.
Backend
The portion of a web application that handles its server-side components is called the backend. It is the area where Python web development really excels. The backend is in charge of storing, retrieving, and structuring data in a predetermined way so that other programmes can parse and comprehend it. The backend of a web application must be able to interpret an HTTP request, comprehend its content, and act on the data in accordance with it because data is transmitted between web servers via HTTP. Data may be stored, validated, updated, deleted, and retrieved, among other processes.
There are numerous methods to develop applications using these two components. Doing everything on the server will be one of these methods. This involves constructing the complete web page on the server, storing the frontend, or HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, on the server, creating templates and populating those templates with data using a database, and transferring the code to the browser over the network. This is acceptable for tiny web apps, but it could result in poorer performance for larger applications.
Using web servers to return data in a specific format, which is then parsed and displayed on the front end using templates and data from the server, is an additional method. The front-end developer accomplishes this with the aid of JavaScript. It speeds up the entire process and frees up the server-side processes.
Why is Python a good choice for web development?
Python will be used extensively in this blog because, in addition to being highly flexible and simple to use, it offers several unique advantages that make it excellent for creating online applications. Now let's talk about Python web application development.
Short learning curve
Python's popularity can be attributed in part to how simple it is to learn. Python was created as a programming language with an emphasis on simplicity and clarity. Its readability is attributed primarily to its syntax. Clarity is prioritised over tradition. Python achieves something similar in less code than other programming languages like Java, C#, or C++, primarily due to the variations in syntax, compared to other programming languages where you have to write a lot more code. Python prefers natural English-like words like "and," "not," and "none," as opposed to other languages' less legible and challenging to learn symbols and words like "&&," "!" and "null."
Enriched Ecosystem
While creating applications, developers frequently run into certain issues. Numerous operations, such as data validation, reading data from a CSV file, sending a network request, etc., require them to write code to accomplish this. These are typical and repetitive jobs. Many programmers wind up creating libraries, which are collections of code that let them carry out such jobs quickly. These libraries are typically made available online so that other programmers working to address related issues can utilise the same
Developers can share their own libraries and use the many pre-made libraries available in Python to solve a wide range of issues. All of these characteristics provide developers with the freedom to spend their time and energy creating applications and resolving problems that are specific to them rather than concentrating on problems that have already been resolved.
Developmental Speed
Python enhances development speed significantly since it is simple to learn and comprehend. Python provides a large number of libraries, allowing developers to concentrate more on creating applications. The syntax and tooling of Python also speed up development. One of the main causes of Python's success has been its advantage in terms of development speed.
The fact that Python is a high-level interpreted language and slower than low-level languages like C, C++, etc. means that it is not appropriate for the creation of some types of programmes, such as device drivers and graphics software. The majority of software applications, however, place a lot greater emphasis on development speed than on a slight variation in execution performance. As a result, Python is more widely used and has increased in popularity.
Big Community
Due to Python's widespread acceptance, a sizable community of developers uses it. Many Python experts and developers who have been working with the language for a while are present in the community. You can learn web development with Python since there is such a vast community of developers who are willing to assist new developers with any queries they may have. These experts have varying degrees of linguistic ability. Additionally, a lot of developers are willing to help, therefore the problems that developers go into when creating applications are either already solved or will be solved fast.
Web frameworks for Python
A framework is a grouping of pre-written packages and modules that are designed to cooperate to address a number of related issues. These common issues typically entail numerous time-consuming activities that developers must include in their projects, such as logging, validation, persistence, etc. In this case, a framework provides a collection of code packages that enable developers to address these issues uniformly across all projects.
Python is primarily used for creating the backend in web application development. Python frameworks handle a variety of backend application development-related operations, including interpreting HTTP requests, producing HTTP answers, gaining access to databases, authentication, authorisation, etc. These tasks are used in numerous backends since they are so prevalent.
For backend development, there are a variety of Python Web Development Frameworks available, ranging from small, specialised, and micro frameworks to large and all-inclusive frameworks. Now let's examine some of the most well-liked Python web frameworks.
Flask
One of the most well-liked HTTP Python Web Development Frameworks is Flask. Being a tiny framework, it lacks several built-in capabilities like templating, account authorisation, authentication, etc. that other web frameworks might have. However, because Flask provides you with the ability to use any library or even bespoke code to address those issues, it does not imply that it is a bad choice for you to utilise. For instance, you may use your own code to deal with data validation while selecting a certain ORM package to manage the database. To put it another way, you are no longer forced to always choose a pre-built solution; instead, you have the option to develop your own.
You may create backend applications using Flask as well, mostly using the components that you want to employ. To provide you greater freedom and control and allow you to make modifications to the code base, such as switching to a different library or developing a bespoke package, it just provides you with the components you need to construct an app. One of the most well-known and effective web frameworks is called Flask, and major corporations like Netflix, LinkedIn, Uber, and others use it.
Django
Django is a Python HTTP framework used to create web applications' backends. It is a framework with all the bases covered and has several parts, like an ORM, a templating engine serializer, etc., for carrying out different activities. Due in part to its pluggable architecture, Django is very simple to learn and use, which contributes to its popularity. You can create compact, independent applications using Django that can be plugged or integrated into bigger projects. In Django, there are two types of entities: apps and projects. An app is a single, short piece of code, whereas a project is a grouping of several apps.
Django comes preloaded with a number of really potent libraries. The object-relational mapper is one of these packages that are quite well-liked (ORM.) An ORM is a piece of software that handles database queries and converts the outcomes into Python objects that can be utilised within a Python codebase. With additional Django libraries, such as the template engine, validation, admin panel, etc., an ORM is simpler to utilise. Django increases developer productivity by enabling them to concentrate more on resolving business issues and less on pointless low-level minutiae. This is the exact reason why Django is so well-liked.
Which of the two should you use, Flask or Django?
It can be a bit tricky to know when to use Django and Flask, despite the fact that both are extremely well-liked and helpful. Generally speaking, you can utilise both of them to develop your web application's backend. These frameworks, however, function well for specific use scenarios.
Use Flask if you are a seasoned developer with expertise in creating numerous web applications and want to create one using a framework that is a little more basic. You can also use it if you only require a framework to handle routine webserver operations like HTTP communication, request parsing, etc. and only know a few libraries.
Now, Django is the best option for you if you are a developer with little experience in web development or if you are working on a large project and do not want to deal with tedious low-level details. You can also utilise it if you don't want to deal with managing individual packages and integrating them afterwards because Django already includes a number of packages by default, saving you time on configuration and integration.
How can I create a Flask-based Python web application?
Now that you have a basic understanding of how Python may be used for web development, let's attempt to build a Flask application that would reply to a straightforward URL with a simple "Hello World" message. The Python package manager, python-pip, must be used to install Flask before you can begin developing the application.
To begin, use the following command to confirm that Python is installed before continuing.
python—version
Then, to install Flask, open the command prompt and enter the following command:
pip install flask
After installing Flask, type in the below code in a file, and save it as app.py.
from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)
@app.route("/")
def hello():
return "Hello World!"
if __name__ == "__main__":
app.run()
Let's attempt to decipher the code now, line by line:
Line 1: To start building the app, import the Flask class from the Flask package.
Line 2: You build a Flask class object and assign it to the app variable. You may also give your app a name by using the __name__ attribute.
Line 4: You set up a route to "/" so that the code in Line 5 will be run when someone requests localhost:5000/.
Line 5: You create a function called hello.
Line 6: You respond with a string message that says, "Hello World!"
Line 8: You confirm that the correct script is being run.
Line 9: Using the Flask app object you created in Line 2, you execute the application. Now you may provide visitors with the right response when they access the homepage of your application.
Open the command prompt or terminal in the same folder as app.py and enter the following command to launch the application:
Using Windows:
set FLASK APP=app.py and then run flask
For Linux or macOS:
develop export FLASK ENV
run a flask
With that, my blog post has come to a close. Hopefully, this article has whetted your desire for learning more about Python and web programming. We wish you well on your Python journey and encourage you to keep learning Python.
Python programmers are in great demand for a variety of reasons, including the language's widespread use and popularity as well as the fact that Python has emerged as a viable alternative in numerous fields. Web applications, data science, and machine learning are all included.