Django vs. Laravel

In this tutorial, we will learn about the difference between two leading web frameworks Django and Laravel. We will make a very detailed comparison of both technologies and learn which framework is more suitable. We will also explore the advantages and disadvantages of both frameworks.

We assume that you have already familiar with what the framework is. If you don't, below is a brief description of the web framework.

Frameworks are software abstractions. They consist of pre-written libraries and complex code already. So using the framework, we don't need to understand the complex code and queries, and we can skip the hassle of developing low-level infrastructure.

For example - To operate the TV, we don't need to learn about its picture-tube or how visuals are reflected on the screen. Instead, we only need a remote to control the television.

This tutorial will help you to choose the appropriate framework for your projects/career. So, without any further delay let's have brief introductions of.

What is Django?

Django is a high-level web framework that is written in Python. It was released in 2005 and developed by the Django Software Foundation.

This framework is battery-included and used for developing rich applications. It follows the MVT architecture for rapid web development. Many technology giants such as Mozilla, Instagram, Bitbucket, Pinterest, etc., are using the Django framework.

It comes with the built-in database support SQLite. The primary aim of the Django framework is to provide a fast development environment, which helps developers create an application in a shorter period.

Key Features of Django

Below are the useful features of django.

1. Excellent Documentation

It is one of the best features of Django, which motivates to learn it. It offers the best documentation as compared to other available technologies. As a result, users can easily find the solution of their problems. It also helps to utilize the technology.

2. SEO-Optimized

SEO stands for search engine optimization which is a unique feature of django. It helps to adding web pages on the top results. Search engines like Google uses some algorithm which sometimes doesn't cooperate much with the developer. Django maintains the websites through the URLs rather than the IP addresses on the server. It reduces the headache of developer where he/she don't need to convert the URL in numeric code.

3. High Scalability

Django is used worldwide, and it gets implemented without any errors. Scalability is a term that defines at what level technology gets implemented. For example, one of the leading social media platforms, Instagram, used Django. Instagram has millions of users, and it generates a huge amount of data. Django provides a system that can handle complex data without any system failure.

4. High Security

Django gets popular because it is highly secure. It is secure because it covers the loopholes which were not automatically done in other frameworks. We can prove that a lot of websites used Django and generates a vast amount of traffic.

5. Provides Rapid Development

Rapid development means the developer doesn't need to know about the backend details to make a fully functioning website. It cuts off the complex coding to build something from scratch. Django provides the built-in admin panel, so we don't need to make it from scratch, and it also provides the built-in support of SQLite. So we don't need to write typical SQL queries. Instead, we can use the Django models.

What is Laravel?

Laravel is a PHP-written, open-source framework that handles server-side processes such as HTML authentication, templating, routing, and more.

Taylor Otwell developed it, and it is based on Symfony that provides reusable PHP components/libraries. Laravel provides the facility to develop a completely functional website with customized backend logic. Some excellent projects, such as Swat.io, Rozerpay, Packet, 9GAG, etc., are written in Laravel. As a result, it has gained much popularity among developers.

Key Features of Laravel

Below are the important features of Laravel.

Pre-packaged tools
It provides the ready-to-use packages for user authentication and offers tools to perform common tasks such as routing, HTML rendering, testing APIs.
Template Engine
Laravel is popular for its built-in lightweight templates which are quite helpful to create attractive, dynamic layout. It offers the multiple widgets along with the JS and CSS code with the robust structure.
MVS Architecture Support
Laravel follows the MVC (Model View Controller) which is responsible for distinguish business logic and presentation layers. MVC pattern of Laravel comes with the lots of built-in methods. These methods enhance the application performance and increases securities as well.
Security
Laravel framework offers high security. It uses hashed and salted password mechanism so that password is saved as hash in the database. Moreover, Bcypt Hashing Algorithm is used for generating an encrypted password.

Difference between Django and Laravel

We have discussed the essential details about both frameworks and seen their essential features them. Now we will discuss the important difference. The following are the difference between Django and Laravel on various parameters.

Parameter	Django	Laravel
Programming Languages	A Django is an open-source, battery-included web framework written in Python programming language.	A Laravel is a full stack, open-source web framework written in the PHP programming language.
Code	Django code is slightly complex as compare to Laravel because it uses the regular expression. Let's have a simple example - Python Example - urlptterns = [ #ex: /polls/ path('', view.index, name='index'), #ex: /polls/5/ path('', view.detail, name='detail'), #ex: /polls/5/results/ ]	Laravel code is not much difficult as Django. Beginners can get its syntax easily. Let's have a simple coding example - PHP Example - <? php Route:get('/', function() { return view('posts.index'); }); Route:get('/posts/create', function() { return view('posts.create'); }); ?>
Scalability	Django can handle enormous traffic flawlessly. It works effortlessly with the various technologies while maintaining the lowest loading times. Moreover, it optimizes elements like images, CSS, HTML, etc., and balance the load with the other resources.	Some of the popular projects are developed using Laravel. Laravel applications can be scaled up without any limitations. Being written in PHP, it provides support to rapidly growing businesses. A good Database and load balancer, we can make the Laravel highly scalable.
Architecture	It supports the MVT model which is known as Model View Template.	It works on the MVC model which is known as Model View Controller.
Community	It is maintained by the Django Software Foundation and has a large base developer community. Apart from that, it provides excellent packages, easy to learn environment.	It also has a vast community of developers. It provides the dependency injection, application architecture, and good community package.
Generality	It provides rapid development features which automate the essential processes.	It has clean architecture and growing community base.
Development Environment	Django provides a lightweight web server with easier and faster development. It makes the end to end development and testing activities easier.	Laravel framework embraces Queues and event & command bus, which is used to run the cron jobs.
Compatibility	Many popular frameworks do exist for Python.	PHP is only considered a framework for PHP.
Performance	Django is much faster than Laravel. For example, in the 2018 JSON serialization test, Django performed 69k JSON responses in a second.	Laravel is far behind in terms of speed. In the same test, it performed an 8k response/second. So in terms of speed, Laravel lose the battle.
Security	Django implements some best security measurement which avoids common mistakes of web development. Leading space agency NASA uses Django for their websites.	It provides the basics of security interface, but it doesn't live up to the Django security level.
API	Django doesn't come with built-in support for API. Developer needs to include libraries to build APIs.	Laravel comes with built-in API support. Therefore, we don't need to include any other library to create RESTAPI.

Some Other Important Differences

Django has 43,384 GitHub Stars, whereas Laravel has 34 329 stars.
There are 205, 106 websites running in Django on the other hand, Laravel hosts 121, 173 sites.
Django provides higher security for enterprise applications. Laravel implements the basic security features.
Django provides the middlewares support, where Laravel offers only HTTP middlewares.
Django comes with many valuable features like decorators, third-party libraries, and SEO tools. Laravel contains method injection.
Django provides the ready-to-use Administrative Graphical Interface, whereas the Laravel authenticate and template engine mechanism is used to design hierarchy schemes.

Comparison between Django and Laravel

Basic for Comparison	Django	Laravel
Definition	Django is a full stack web framework.	Laravel is full stack web framework.
Platform	It supports cross-platform.	It supports cross-platform.
Maintenance	Django software foundation supports Django.	It is maintained by the developer itself.
Front-end Support	It is pretty complex to bind with a front-end JS framework.	It supports Vue.JS out of the box.
Popularity	Django is a leading framework and widely used across the world. There are various categories of websites that are built upon Django.	Laravel is also a widely used framework. It has leading usage in Brazil, Chine, the UK, and other 157 countries.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have discussed the various aspect of leading web frameworks. You may get confuse which framework is more appropriate. Both frameworks are shown the great features and features. Let's summarize the above point. It would help you to land up on suitable framework for your project/career.

Django is best, if -

Creating a SEO friendly and dynamic social media websites.
Wants to include the ML integrated apps.
You wish to build a secure app for B2B communication.
One wants to leverage the data analytics and visualization.
Django is best for the data-driven apps like travel, food, and hospitality industries.
Wants to build CRM for e-commerce platforms.

Laravel is best, if

One wants to build a website with appealing content.
Laravel is the best choice for creating an advanced application without adding a new overhead component.
If you want to use the pre-written advantage of various widgets with JS and CSS.
If you want to build a web application quicker and faster.
If you want to create a website using PHP Data Objects (PDO).

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