Compare Falcon and web2py

Falcon is a minimalist WSGI library for building web APIs, app backends and microservices. Compared to Django and Flask, it is fast, extensible, reliable, and encourages RESTful style. It doesn't come with batteries included and is ideal for applications that require a high level of customization. The fminimalist design allows developers to select the best strategies and 3rd-party packages from the Python ecosystem.

web2py was originally designed as a teaching tool, but it gained adoption outside of the academic world. It is a full-stack framework containing all the components needed to build fully functional web applications using the Model View Controller (MVC) pattern. Inspired by the Ruby on Rails and Django. It is not very popular right now but was ranked amongst top Python web frameworks in 2011.

Let's see how Falcon and web2py compare on various factors and features and which to choose when.

Falcon

web2py

Overall

Type

Type
The minimalist REST and app backend framework for Python with a focus on reliability, correctness, and performance at scale.
Type
Python full-stack for building web applications.

Author

Release Date

Release Date
2012
Release Date
2007

License

Website

Website
www.web2py.com
Adoption and Ease of Use

Popularity [?]

Popularity [?]
1 Star
Used by 5,000 projects.
Popularity [?]
0.5 Star
Used by 36 projects.

Used by

Used by
LinkedIn, Leadpages, Wargaming, and Rackspace.
Used by
Not in use at any large company.

Jobs [?]

Jobs [?]
1.5 Stars
100 job openings which list Falcon as a requirement.
Jobs [?]
0.5 Star
8 job openings which list web2py as a requirement.

Performance [?]

Performance [?]
5 Stars
Very fast, even when compared to microframeworks like Flask. See the benchmarks. *Caution* - The benchmarks are from the vendor itself.
Performance [?]
3 Stars
Web2py takes a unique approach where models and controllers are executed in a single global environment, which is initialized at each HTTP request. While there are pros to this approach, such as developers never having to worry about cleaning up or avoid conflict between requests, the major disadvantage is that the code is models is executed with every request which carries a performance penalty.

Flexibility

Flexibility
5 Stars
Very flexible. Ideal for applications that require a high degree of customization and performance tuning.
Flexibility
3 Stars
Not as flexible as microframeworks, but doesn't always get in the way.

Ease of Learning

Ease of Learning
5 Stars
Has a slight learning curve but there are some great online resources, courses tutorials and YouTube videos.
Ease of Learning
2 Stars
Limited online tutorials and resources, and many are several years old. The best resource for learning is web2py author's own "web2py Complete Reference Manual", which seems to be written in 2013.
Database Support

RDBMS Support

RDBMS Support
Built-in Support
Built-in
Doesn't ship with one but developers can use the database library of their choice such as SQLAlchemy.
RDBMS Support
Built-in Support
Built-in
Ships with a Database Abstraction Layer (DAL) which supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and many other relational databases.

NoSQL Support

NoSQL Support
Doesn't come with built-in libraries but makes it easy for developers to use library of their choice such as MongoEngine to interact with MongoDB.
NoSQL Support
No built-in support. Very limited support for NoSQL databases. Currently, it only supports Google Datastore on the Google App Engine.
Web & Core Features

Admin Dashboard

Admin Dashboard
Through Plugins or Extensions
Through Plugins or Extensions
Does not ship with a web-based admin.
Admin Dashboard
Built-in Support
Built-in
Yes ships with a built-in admin panel.

REST Support

REST Support
Encourages the REST architectural style by design. Resource classes implement HTTP method handlers that resolve requests and perform state transitions.
REST Support
Has some support.

Security

Security
No built-in protection but minimal attack surface for writing secure APIs
Security
Built-in protection against input injections, XSS, and common vulnerabilities. Read more here. It has known security vulnerabilities. Please see list here.

Templating Library

Templating Library
Doesn't ship with one but developers can use Jinja2 or Mako.
Templating Library
Uses custom web2py templating language out of the box.

Web Forms

Web Forms
Falcon features easy and efficient access to submitted multipart forms by using falcon.media.MultipartFormHandler.
Web Forms
Built-in support. Read more here.

Authentication

Authentication
Not built-in but can be easily extended using authentication middlewares like falcon-auth2.
Authentication
Includes a Role Based Access Control mechanism (RBAC), which is sufficient for many use cases.

Testing

Testing
Support using unittest and pytest. Read more here.
Testing
Can be done using Python's unittest framework or using the doctest.

If you found this useful, please help us grow by sharing this article with your followers using the sharing icons. Every share or call out will help. Thank you.

Similar Comparisons

Speak Your Mind