Updated June 12, 2023
Difference Between Django vs Rails
Django is a free, open-source, high-performance web framework written in the popular, simple, flexible, and comparatively easy-to-learn Python programming language. It adopts an MVC (Model View Controller) design pattern. Django seeks to simplify the development of high-end web applications. Ruby on Rails, commonly known as Rails, is also a web framework implemented in Ruby. Rails offer a perfect blend of object-oriented programming features and dynamically typed syntax.
Let us study much more about Django and Ruby on Rails in detail:
- Adrian Holovaty and Simon Willison initially authored the Django web framework in 2005. Currently, the Django Software Foundation (DSF) maintains it. Since its release, thousands of programmers, beginners, and advanced users alike have used it, owing to its user-friendliness.
- Django emphasizes the reusability of code and pluggability of its components, compact coding practices, minimal coupling, and rapid development. It also offers a CRUD (Create, Read, Update, and Delete) interface for more straightforward and dynamic maneuverability.
- Ruby on Rails, commonly known as Rails, is also a web framework implemented in Ruby. Rails, authored by David Heinemeier Hansson, was initially released in 2005.
- Like Django, It follows an MVC (Model View Controller) framework, which facilitates using XML or JSON for data exchange and HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for a user interface consistent with web standards.
- Both Django and Ruby on Rails are widely utilized for developing web applications and prototypes due to their extensive standard libraries, support for persistence, and feature-rich frameworks. Django is a Python-based framework, while Ruby on Rails is built using Ruby.
- Interpreted scripting languages, such as Django and Ruby on Rails, differ from compiled languages like Java and C++. However, compiled languages tend to run comparatively faster. Ruby on Rails is more popular as a web development tool than Django-Python.
Head-to-Head Comparison Between Django vs Rails (Infographics)
Below is the top 8 difference between Django vs Rails:
Key Differences Between Django and Rails
Let us discuss some of the major Differences Between Django and Ruby on Rails:
- Python is the base language of Django, hence follows all the coding conventions and sticks to the standard Pythonic way of programming. On the other hand, Rails inherits its essential traits from Ruby; thus, its coding philosophy aligns with its parent language.
- The Rails philosophy rests on two pillars- DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself), which states, “Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.” By not writing the same information over and over again, a code is more maintainable, more extensible, and less buggy, and CoC (Convention Over Configuration), which emphasizes the best way to do many things in a web application, and defaults to this set of conventions, rather than specify endless configurations. The Django philosophies include- DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself), which says every distinct concept and piece of data should live in one and only one place. Redundancy could be better. Normalization is good. Explicit is better than implicit, as listed in PEP 20, which means Django should not do too much “magic.” Magic should only happen if there is an excellent reason for it. And, loose coupling and tight cohesion, which states various layers of the framework, should not “know” about each other unless necessary.
- Each Django vs Rails implements a similar internal design principle in consonance with MVC (Model View Controller). In this architecture, each database table usually maps with their respective classes, and the controller, a server-side component, renders views upon receiving an HTTP client request.
- Although similar, ORM (Object Relational Mapping) varies for Django vs Rails. Rails have a generic ORM enabling the code to work on all supported databases’ backends. Model definitions are organized through these important files- The model file contains business logic and validation rules, the Migration files contain descriptions of incremental changes to the database structure, and the Schema file contains a reference to the current database structure. Django has an equivalent implementation with specific code-level differences- The model file contains business logic, database structure, and validation rules. Migration files are generated automatically as a model file is updated and contains incremental database changes.
- At the front end, web pages’ behavior can be controlled by integrating front-end technologies, including JavaScript. Rails have a built-in static compilation pipeline that uses CoffeeScript by default. Django serves static files by default while throwing open third-party applications add compilation and compression options.
- The performance of a web framework is one of the primary reasons for its popularity among business users. On this count, Rails fairs are better in comparison to Django. Though, the developer community uses Django vs Rails equally to solve their business use cases. As evident, Bitbucket uses Django and Github Rails, offering comparable overall performances.
- Rapid development and prompt delivery of working software are complex issues most development projects face. Thanks to Rails’ gems (libraries), applications can be developed quickly. Rails score some extra points over Django here.
- Longevity and durability are other considerations when choosing one technology over another. In the age of big data and IoTs, more and more devices connect to the network daily, adding to the data sources. The significant data phenomena and their handling require heavy scientific analysis and the deployment of ML (Machine Learning) algorithms. Python (Django) code will have an advantage over Ruby (Rails) in the future.
Comparison Table between Django vs Rails
Below is the topmost comparison between Django vs Rails.
| Basis of Comparison Between Django vs Rails | Django | Rails |
| Origin | A web framework with its origin in Python | Originates from Ruby as a robust web framework |
| Use cases | Suitable for the development of websites with heavy data load and servers with high traffic volume | Appropriate for implementing complex and high-traffic websites and applications rapidly |
| Architecture | Follows MVC design pattern | Based on the MVC model with the well-layered structure |
| Performance | Offers very robust performance | Parity or even exceeds in performance with Django |
| Motivation | Enforces uniformity in the implementation of a task, at the same time sticking to simplicity | It offers developers the freedom and flexibility to resolve tasks in many different ways. |
| Distinctive features | Easy to learn, conservative, code readability, speedy and efficient implementation | Expressive, Efficient, elegant, and powerful |
| Preferred by developers | It gives more prominence to stability in comparison with the change, conservative code, and lesser updates. | Lays emphasis on creative coding, frequent updates, freedom and flexibility, and readable code |
| Major implementation | YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, Reddit, BitTorrent | Basecamp, Hulu, Twitter (originally), Github, Airbnb |
Conclusion
In a nutshell, both Django and Rails are modern, robust, object-oriented, and server-side web frameworks that provide developers with the necessary flexibility and tools to create high-end websites. Each framework has a large community base due to its distinctive features, which have made them popular choices among developers.
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