Advantages of Django | Disadvantages of Django

Python is a simple, powerful, and dynamic programming language which has a large community. Due to this, Django has now become a popular web framework. If you’re a Python Programmer, chances are you’ve already heard of Django.

Django provides various functionalities and features which make it stand out from other frameworks. It is now in large technology companies such as Mozilla, Netflix, Instagram, and Youtube.

Every Programming Language has its own Pros and Cons. Some developers even find the Cons and adopt them as an advantage.

In this tutorial, we will be learning about Pros and Cons of Django. Let’s start!!!

Advantages of Python Django Web Development

1. Better API Frameworks

Python’s library – Django REST Framework in Django has a customizable and modular architecture that can be used for simple and sophisticated APIs. It is flexible, it comes with CRUD operations and a built-in browser for testing Application Programming Interface Endpoints.

Django along with REST Framework makes it a powerful, versatile enough toolkit that will help developers to construct scalable web APIs. It also supports GraphQL, a query language that is used to share related data in a convenient manner. Graphene-Django helps to add easy functionalities to Django Projects.

GraphQL framework also provides a built-in browser to test Application Programming Interface Endpoints.

2. For Search Engine Optimization

Businesses spend a lot of money to scale up their SEO Rank on Search Engines. There are various factors involved in ranking up a website. Besides page load time, Keywords is the most decidable factor in SEO. Most of the Python Source Code is Human Readable, which makes it an SEO-Friendly Framework. Sitemaps built-in with Django makes it easier for developers to be unaware of Search Engine Optimization and yet enjoy its benefits.

3. CDN

Developers handling large websites that receive a lot of traffic often use Content Delivery Networks. Django is best known for its Content Delivery Network Connectivity.

Websites that involve large media files should make it a good practice to lessen the response time. Buying and Upgrading Servers isn’t always the answer if developers are looking for cost and time-effective solutions. CDN is just the approach that developers prefer when handling large media sites since clients can consume the web pages with less response time.

National Geographic Network, Mozilla Foundation, Spotify, Instagram are some of the Large Tech Giants that happen to be using Django due to its superior Content Delivery Network Connectivity.

4. Batteries Framework Included

Django follows the Batteries-included philosophy which means that the framework has everything you need to make use of in order to develop your web application. With a large open-source community it is also easier to find packages that are suitable for your needs.

Some of the batteries that make the Django framework complete are :

• Auth Package – Authentication
• Admin Package – Admin Interface
• Session Package – Session Management
• Google Site Map Package
• Postgres Package

Instead of writing their own code, developers can just import these packages to fasten their development process.

5. Long-Lasting Framework

Django was made public in 2005. Even though it’s a slowly evolving framework, companies who have adopted Django never switched to other frameworks in search of a better alternative.

There have been many alternatives to Django, as time passes by frameworks usually die in search of better alternatives. Flask, a python web development framework is slowly fading away and is mostly used for small projects.
You can expect Django to be in the game for a longer amount of time and would not regret getting acquainted with the framework.

6. Ideal for ML Projects

Python happens to be a Standard Go-to Programming Language for Machine Learning Scientists. Django makes it easier to deploy machine learning projects and models since it is a Python-Framework. Django REST Framework and Gunicorn Web Server makes it easier to have a Python-dependent RESTful API for Machine Learning Projects and Solutions.

7. Admin GUI

Django provides a built-in Administrator Interface which makes it a lot easier for Developers to handle the user base by providing access controls without having to write the admin code from scratch.

8. Scalability

Django can handle large amounts of traffic and provide API Usage to around 450+ million users. It is widely used among top technology industries like Dropbox which is a cloud technology for storing and sharing files. Django makes applications scalable by providing the ability to plug and unplug default components. Developers can even extend their application by adding plugins seamlessly in a production application.

9. Faster Development Process

Django lets you build applications faster than any other framework, which is why many startup companies adopt it when their priority happens to be marketing their product. The framework’s architecture allows you to instantly add components, allowing you to rapidly make changes to your application even in a live production environment.

10. Open Source and Huge Community

Django is an Open Source Framework, the GitHub Repository of Django receives more than 2000 contributions every month. Due to its wide adaptiveness among the technology industry and its open-source nature, updates are frequently released thus it’s a continuously evolving framework.

Beginners and programmers struck with a problem can easily find solutions due to its active community on the Internet.

11. Security

Django developers made security a priority while developing the language. Django has inbuilt standard encryption packages required to secure the website. The framework architecture defends common security issues like Clickjacking, SQL vulnerabilities, and cross-site scripting. With a wide range of open source communities, Django usually comes first in fixing security vulnerabilities and alerts other frameworks.

Django’s application source code doesn’t show up in web browser source code and offers various other features like scanning uploaded content and access control security. Django is a versatile framework for the robust security it offers.

Cons of Django as Web Framework

1. Mastering

Developers who are migrating from other programming languages to Python with Django often find it difficult to learn it. The framework has a lot of configurations and settings that need to be configured out by Developers. Even though it is a simple and easy-to-understand framework it is often claimed as hard to master.

2. Not suitable for small Projects

Django has a lot of code that requires Server Computation Power and can take a lot of time, which takes a toll on small applications. Same reason why we wouldn’t use a drilling machine to punch a staple hole on paper. You can opt for other frameworks such as Flask to handle smaller projects.

3. Monolithic

Django does not provide a lot of freedom when it comes to project architecture, Django has its own way of doing things. If a developer tries to implement something out of the file structure then there is no way Django can access the file. Django is very specific when it comes to performing tasks in a certain way.

Developers who are efficient in programming languages such as Python are limited with the framework and have to go with the “Django Way” . Whereas beginners to python find it as an advantage.

4. Tightly Coupled Components

Usually, frameworks maintain their components loose so that developers have an easy time moving them. Django’s Components are tightly coupled due to which developers have to focus on installing all the components at the same time.

Many developers find it annoying and time-consuming while migrating their projects around systems.

5. Cannot Handle Multiple Requests

The majority of the web frameworks improve the execution of web applications by offering support to handle multiple requests at once.

But Django, being a modern web framework, does not support handling multiple requests simultaneously. Therefore developers have to come up with different approaches to deal with multiple requests rapidly.

6. No Conventions

Few developers dislike Django due to lack of conventions. A lot of developers follow convention when using frameworks, where things magically get built just by following the convention. But it isn’t the same with Django. Configuring everything on the go can lead to Configuration Mismatch and the Application might break down. Due to this development speed can sometimes be slower than expected.

Summary

In this tutorial, we have looked at the Advantages and Disadvantages of Django. Even though it is an ideal framework for web development, it might not be best to use Django in every scenario.

Django is slowly evolving and being adopted by large companies. If you’re a beginner looking to learn Django there is also huge community support and documentation available.