Python Web Frameworks Compared: Django vs FastAPI

Django and FastAPI are, without a doubt, two of the most well-known and widely used frameworks by Python developers. And for good reason. They have a great and active community of developers which is incredibly handy when new users encounter problems. They are both open-source allowing for a swift transfer of not only data but also ideas. Despite their many similarities, they are not without their differences. These should be understood and given proper thought before undertaking any project using Python.

Django: Overview and Features

Let’s consider the main features of Django. In short, Django is what many like to call a ‘no strings attached’ framework. It was built chiefly to aid developers build complicated applications quickly and efficiently.

Some of its features include, but are not limited to:

• Object-Relational Mapping (ORM)
• Built-in authentication system
• Admin interface for managing application data
• Middleware support for handling requests and responses
• Template system for rendering HTML pages
• URL routing system for mapping URLs to views

FastAPI: Overview and Features

FastAPI, on the other hand, is more of a high-performance framework, used primarily for building powerful Application Programming Interfaces (API). It offers a plethora of varying features which are incredibly useful for building APIs:

• High performance, thanks to its use of asynchronous code

• Automatic generation of API documentation with Swagger UI

• Support for both JSON and OpenAPI formats

• Built-in dependency injection for managing application components

• Built-in testing tools for unit and integration testing

• A simple and intuitive interface for defining endpoints

  
  

Performance and Scalability

Scalability is of vital importance concerning the choice of Python Frameworks. Both Django and FastAPI are built on different servers, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Django uses a synchronous server called WSGI. Being a synchronous server, each request is handled successionally. Although there are certainly many upsides to this, such as flexibility and quality control, it ultimately leads to slower performance, especially when handling large amounts of data.

However, the base of the FastAPI framework is the ASGI server; an asynchronous server. This type of server is often seen as superior as requests are handled all at once.

Routing and Requests

It is also important to consider the differences concerning routing. Although both frameworks use it to map URLs to views, the similarities end here. Django primarily uses a class-based system. Each task is given and defined by a certain ‘class’. This is compared to FastAPI, where each task is defined as a ‘function’.

Even though Django’s class system is often considered more versatile and, thus, works well for data-heavy applications, it can sometimes be a bit of an overkill, especially for simple applications, where the FastAPI system is generally preferred.

Database Support

The next area which should be considered is database support. No doubt about it, Django here is the clear winner. It offers excellent control and provides a range of popular features. Most notably, it gives the opportunity for programmers to actually work with database data as Python objects with its ORM. While database management is certainly quicker using FastAPI, it lacks core functions and is not suitable for building full-stack web applications.

Templating and Front-End Integration

If a programmer is still unsure of their abilities and lacks knowledge in certain areas, Django is a perfect fit in terms of templating and front-end integration. Django makes it easy to create difficult user interfaces without the requirement of much front-end code, thanks to the fact that Django incorporates an integrated templating system.

FastAPI, on the other hand, does not feature such a templating system. Developers who choose FastAPI will need extensive knowledge and will be required to write a fair amount of front-end code. Although this may seem like a disadvantage, the advantages lie in FastAPI’s quicker functionality and its focus on APIs that are compatible with such front-end frameworks as Vue or Angular.

Security

It goes without saying that security is a pretty important aspect of web frameworks. Python frameworks should be able to withstand such web vulnerabilities as SQL injection attacks and cross-site scripting (XSS).

Both Django and FastAPI are unique concerning their elements of protection. Django features a built–in authentication system, which is very popular as it offers programmers a variety of useful features: Password hashing, password reset functions, and support for user authentication to name just a few.

FastAPI lacks an integrated authentication system, although the tools it provides for developers to secure APIs are unmatched, and if done correctly, provide greater security than Django.

Community and Support

Without a shadow of a doubt, developers will encounter problems and issues which will need resolving. This is why it is important to consider the community behind both frameworks, as more often than not, problems can be fixed by simply turning to your peers. Both frameworks have active communities; however, as Django is older than FastAPI, its community is greater. This is a real advantage for those considering choosing Django over FastAPI as there are more resources available and more developers to turn to for support.

Although this does not mean that FastAPI’s community is worse in any way. As the framework becomes more popular, the level of resources continues to grow and at the current moment features an active GitHub and a Stack channel.

Deployment and Hosting

With both Django and FastAPI being popular among developers, applications built using these two frameworks can be deployed in a variety of ways utilizing services such as Heroku and a plethora of cloud hosting services.

As Django is ultimately the most popular of the two, many hosting providers provide ‘Django-specific’ services, which, of course, makes it incredibly easy to deploy and host applications using Django

FastAPI, on the other hand, is often used alongside other API services as it focuses primarily on APIs, thus, it is often deployed as part of a microservice architecture.

Code Examples: Building an API with Django and FastAPI

To illustrate the differences between Django and FastAPI, let's look at how we can build a simple API with each framework.

import json

from django.shortcuts import render
from django.http import JsonResponse
from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_exempt

@csrf_exempt
def hello(request):
    if request.method == "POST":
        data = json.loads(request.body.decode())
        name = data["name"]
        response_data = {"message": f"Hello, {name}!"}
        return JsonResponse(response_data)
    else:
        return JsonResponse({"message": "Hello, World!"})

In this example, we define a simple view that accepts a POST request with a JSON payload containing a name field. It responds with a message containing the name.

from fastapi import FastAPI
from pydantic import BaseModel

app = FastAPI()

class HelloRequest(BaseModel):
    name: str


@app.post("/hello")
def hello(request: HelloRequest):
    return {"message": f"Hello, {request.name}!

In this example, we define a FastAPI app with a single route that accepts a POST request with a JSON payload containing a name field. It responds with a message containing the name.

As you can see, the FastAPI example is much simpler than the Django example, thanks to FastAPI's focus on building APIs.

Conclusion

Django and FastAPI are used and trusted by thousands of developers around the globe and for good reason. They are both reliable and are compatible with many different services.

The choice between them ultimately boils down to a developer's level of experience and the actual demands of the project. Django is best suited for building powerful data-driven applications. Its built-in ORM and abundance of useful features make it a great choice for demanding projects.

However, if complexity is not the issue, and the focus is instead put on the speed of delivery of a finished application, FastAPI is the better of the two. Its simple interface and design as well as a focus on APIs make building APIs quick and efficient.

The choice is yours!