Laravel Vs Node.js Vs Django: Which Is The Best Back-end Web Framework?

Difference between Node JS, Django, and Laravel: Web frameworks are nothing but software packages that makes complex web app development easy. They also come with many built-in features which minimize the time required for the development. Thus they result in a quick transition from the development phase to the production phase.

With regards to picking the best web framework, at that point the whole developers' community seems to be divided. Some vibe that Node.js is the best web framework, while others feel it's Django, and most of them believe it's Laravel.

So, which one is it? In this blog, we will compare all three web framework on various criteria and parameters.

Node.js

Node.js isn't just a framework yet additionally a full-fledged server. In basic words, it's an open-source JavaScript-based runtime environment that assumes a vital part in the development of cross-platform applications.

Node.js includes asynchronous and event-driven APIs. Node.js has arisen as a best option for a wide scope of developers since it works on a single thread. This additionally kills impeding during execution.

The whole server is event-based and is triggered when it receives call-backs. This is exactly what enables the server to come back each time it’s called. It also prevents it from the state of pause or sleep.

Netscape made a JavaScript programming language as a scripting tool for manipulating website pages inside the browser, Netscape Navigator.

History

Netscape was likewise into selling Web Servers which included Netscape LiveWire which is an environment that can assemble dynamic pages with the assistance of server-side JavaScript. Nonetheless, Netscape LiveWire wasn't a success and server-side JavaScript came into the spotlight solely after the introduction of Node.js.

The timing was one of the critical factors behind the rise of Node.js. This is on the grounds that a couple of years back individuals had begun to think about JavaScript as a serious language. Web 2.0 applications like Gmail, Flickr, and so forth can likewise be given acknowledge for this change as they showed the world how the modern experience on the web feels like.

Nonetheless, Node.js isn't well known simply because of the correct timing. Throughout the long term, it has presented a lot of innovations for JavaScript server-side that has been of great help for several developers.

Now, let’s have a look at the timeline of Node.js.

2009

• Node.js is created.
• The first form of npm is born.

2010

• Express is created
• Socket.io is introduced

2011

• npm 1.0 is introduced
• LinkedIn, Uber, and other big companies start adopting Node.js
• Hapi is created

2012

• The rapid adoption of node.js continues

2013

• Koa is created
• Ghost becomes the first prominent blogging platform using Node.js

2015

• The Node.js Foundation is created
• IO.js is merged into Node.js
• Node.js 4 is released
• Private modules introduced by npm

2016

• Yarn is created
• Node.js 6 is introduced

2017

• Node.js 8 is introduced
• V8 introduces Node.js in testing suite thus making Node.js a target for JS.
• Over 3 billion npm downloads per week

2018

• Node.js 10 is introduced
• Node.js 11 introduced
• ES modules .mjs experimental support

2019

• Node.js 12 is introduced
• Node.js 13 is born

2020

• Node.js 14 is born
• Node.js 15 is created

Why use Node.js?

There are numerous causes as to why one should use Node.js. Some of the top reasons to use Node.js are as follows:

Extended support

Most of Developers enjoy Node.js’ extended support of various tools. For example, they can use Jasmin and other unit-testing tools for testing the source code of Node.js application. Similarly, they can use npm to identify and install project dependencies.

High performance

Node.js makes simpler and faster implementation of code since it uses Google’s V8 JavaScript engine which is known for compiling JavaScript code directly into machine code.

Easy scalability

Developers can simply add additional nodes to the current system to easily scale applications in both horizontal and vertical directions.

Highly extensible

Node.js is highly extensible as you can extend and customize Node.js as per their requirements. Furthermore, you can also provide scope of exchange of data between the client and the web server by using JSON.

Caching advantage

In Node.js, the requests in the first module gets cached automatically in the application memory. This enormously helps the developers as they don’t have to re-execute codes since caching enables the applications to respond faster and load the web pages quickly.

When to use Node.js?

Now, you would be having a question as to when you can use Node.js. Following the events when using Node.js is the best decision.

Micro services

Node.js is the most chosen technology for building and organizing micro services. Furthermore, the lightweight of Node.js makes the solution scalable. This is the primary reason why many organization and companies migrate to Node.js when it comes to micro services.

Collaborative tools

Node.js is also used for developing collaborative tools since it’s good for mobile applications that require immediate updates like online documentation suites and collaboration tools. Talking about collaborative tools, Trello is one of the most popular project management tools which is developed leveraging Node.js’ non-blocking and event-driven model.

For building Real-time applications

Real-time applications especially real-time chatting and messaging are one of the best use cases of Node.js since it’s so good at offering high speed and performance. Furthermore, the environment can also support chat rooms having penetrating traffic and multiple short messages.

Data streaming applications

Node.js is best suited to support data streaming as its modules enable it to create both readable and writable data streams. Netflix serves as the best example which is a global media service provider which uses Node.js.

Famous Companies that use Node.js

There are many big and well-known names that are using Node.js for their web applications. Names of few of these giants are mentioned below:

Django

Django is a programmable and light-weight web development framework that is based on Python. It follows the MVT (Model View Template) role for web development.

Django was presented in the market in 2005. Throughout the long term, Django become developers’ first choice. Enormous names like Pinterest, Instagram, BitBucket, and Mozilla are using Django for their web application development.

The greatest USP of this framework is the straightforwardness offered by Django to consistently integrate solutions to reduce the development time. Django likewise improves the development interaction by integrating robust. Django also reduces time to advertise the developed application.

Django framework is the developer’s first choice when it comes to working on complex projects.

History

Django started as an internal project in 2003 at Lawrence Journal-World newspaper. The development group there needed to execute whole applications inside a range of a couple of hours.

To comply with these hard deadlines, Django was made. Besides, the framework additionally kept the development process maintainable and clean.

Within two years, Django got experienced to manage sites having high traffic. This is when developers decided to release it to the public as an open-source project.

Django has accumulated countless developers and users across the world since it's an open-source project. New highlights and bug fixes are presented consistently.
Moreover, the original development team ensures that Django remains a web framework for creating reusable, clean, and maintainable web applications.

Why use Django?

There are several reasons as to why we use Django. Some of the major reasons are mentioned below:

Security

Django has one of the best security systems. It allows developers to avoid security issues such as clickjacking, cross-site scripting, and SQL injection. Django also releases security patches quite regularly and promptly and it’s usually among the first to respond to an alert notifications.

Simple & fast

Django’s principle of fast development helps developers to do more than one just iteration at a time without the need of starting the entire schedule from scratch. Moreover, the DRY philosophy which is Don’t Repeat Yourself means that developers can focus on unique codes by reusing the existing codes.

Suitable for any project

With Django, developers can solve any project of any capacity and size whether it’s a high-loaded application or simple website. This is because Django works with major databases which enables it to use the database which is more suitable for a particular project.

Django is equipped with ORM (object-relational mapper) which offers layer between a database and developer. This makes it possible to migrate applications and other databases with just minor code changes.

When we can use Django?

You can use Django for the following cases:

Famous Companies that use Django

Laravel

Laravel is an open-source and full-stack PHP Framework. It was launched a long time after Django. Laravel accompanies a plenty of highlights and features which helps you in building assorted sort of web applications.

These highlights additionally ease the development process and diminish development time. Developers often resort to Laravel at whatever point they need to build small or large web applications.

In any case, one should recollect that the developers should have huge experience and command in PHP to work with Laravel.

Most of applications that are built with Laravel are used for the content management system.

It has additionally been seen that Laravel upscale those highlights which help in acquiring and driving traffic towards the website. Laravel has also emerged as the powerhouse of features that helps in every phase of web development.

History

Taylor Otwell developed Laravel in an attempt to offer a perfect alternative to the PHP framework – CodeIgniter. CodeIgniter was one of the most popular PHP frameworks in 2011.

However, it didn’t offer a few features such as support for proper user utilization and in-built customer authentication. In 2011, it launched its first beta version and in the same month, it launched Laravel 1.

The main focus of Laravel was to utilize the architectural pattern of MVC (Model View Controller) for web application development.

Now that we have understood the three frameworks and their history, let’s have a look at where they stand when we compare them on various parameters and factors.

Why use Laravel?

There are several reasons to use Laravel, some of these are mentioned below:

Exceptional handling

Laravel framework is highly capable of handling errors by making users aware of the errors by sending them error messages. Laravel also comes with support for log handlers. Developers can find them in the integrated Monolog logging library.

Authentication and authorization systems

Laravel enables out of the box configuration to simplify implementation and authentication. The later version of Laravel comes with predefined packages which controls access to resources and organizes authorization logic.

Data Migration from SQL

In any case developer don’t have wish to work with SQL directly, then developer can use the special algorithm which is written in Python. This algorithm ensures proper interaction with the database.

Routing

Unlike any other PHP development environment, Laravel can execute routing in two ways. First, by using controllers and second by adding the code directly to the route. This becomes quite helpful if you’re looking to build a pile of controllers with a dozen of methods.

When to use Laravel?

• Developer can use the Laravel framework for the following:
• To power an online survey website
• Stock management, article management, lite-CRM.
• For e-learning applications or interactive websites that have high traffic up to 50k+ visitors per day.

Which companies use Laravel?

Many big companies across the world are leveraging Laravel Framework. Some of the big names are mentioned below:

Comparison of Node.js vs Django vs Laravel

Community

Django

Django has the smallest community of the three with 49,000 stars and 28,289 commits on GitHub.

Laravel

Laravel comes second on the list with 59,000 stars and 6,247 commits.

Node.js

When we talk about the community and support, then Node.js stands tall among the three backend frameworks with 69,800 stars and 30,466 commits on GitHub.

Framework Base

Django

It works as per the Model View Template (MVT) pattern which is based on Python Language. The main aim of this framework is to encourage developers to write codes in an effective and efficient manner.

Laravel

Laravel is based on PHP. It follows Model-view-Controller (MVC) pattern. Many developers across the world praise this open-source web application framework for its top-notch features and performance.

Node.js

It’s an open-source framework that functions on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript Engine. It works as per the non-blocking I/O and event-driven architecture.

Performance and Scalability

Django

Django is useful when it comes to cross-platform applications. Furthermore, this feature also ensures that a programmer can manage his workflow easily.

Laravel

Developers face scalability issues in Laravel when they begin rendering and creating various versions of the application. Also, if we talk about the performance then it’s not as adequate as the other two frameworks.

Node.js

Node.js offers top-notch quality due to its asynchronous and non-blocking programming features. This assists developers to manage multiple events at the same time while coding the functionality.

Rapid development

Laravel

It has a low development speed as compared to the other two frameworks.

Django

It comes with a large range of plugins that boosts the speed of the development time and tasks at hand.

Node.js

Node.js functions really well on most machines due to its lightweight server. Additionally, it can also manage various requests with the utmost ease.

Security

Laravel

Laravel framework is known for providing better security than other frameworks. It leverages the hashed password method for storing every password in the database safely.

Django

Framework’s effective security practices help it to manage several vulnerabilities, scripting attacks, etc. Furthermore, Django also alerts the developers regarding various errors.            

Node.js

It’s true that Node.js offers enhanced security for sophisticated code structure, but one must not forget that there is a large range of loopholes that you’ll discover in your journey.

Conclusion

When it comes to choosing the best framework, then it depends upon the requirements that your developers have in regards to the technologies. Accordingly, you can hire Node.js developers or hire Laravel developers or go for Django developers as per your project’s requirements.