Node.js Vs Django: Top Differences That Web Developer Should Know [2024]

There has always been a heated debate over which one to choose from Node.js or Django. In this blog, we will be addressing the same. So before getting directly to comparison let’s have a small intro to Nodejs and Django.

What is Node.js?

Node.js is a javascript runtime environment. The runtime environment provides everything which is required for a piece of code to run/execute. It contains the libraries, and environment variables and provides memory, resources such as files, sockets, etc, and proper initialization and disposal of allocated memory to the program.

What is Django?

Django is a Python Framework for backend web development. A framework is a kind of template using which we can create applications easily without manually doing all the stuff and can focus more on developing features rather than doing the setup. For example, a framework contains functions that can process input, manage hardware, interact with system software (eg operating system), etc.

Express.js is used as a backend web development framework for Node.js. Both node.js and Django are cross-platform, open-source tools with vast community support.

A tool is said to be cross-platform when it can run on various operating systems and devices which are referred to as platforms e.g. Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS, etc.

Why Node.js vs Django?

Both Node.js and Django can be used for backend web development. Node.js is often used with Express.js which is a framework, thus, we are comparing two backend frameworks used for web development.

Node.js Vs Django – Top Differences That You Should Know

Let’s now compare the two on various parameters:

1. Architecture

Django follows MVT (Model View Template) architecture where, 

• Model – Represents the structure of how data is stored in the database.
• View – Handles the request made when a particular URL is hit. 
• Template – HTML file which will be rendered by the view on the browser

Basically, when someone searches for a particular URL, the view handles the request and interacts with the model to fetch data from the database. Then, based on the request, the appropriate template is rendered which is viewed by the user on the browser.

Thus, Django is suitable for monolith architecture-based projects. In monolith applications, all the services and components of the entire application are tightly coupled in a single giant codebase.

Node.js follows event-driven architecture. An event is ‘anything’ that happens. It can be a button click, scroll, hover, swipe, etc. Event-driven applications respond to some particular events when they take place.

Being event-driven makes it suitable to implement microservices. Microservices are stand-alone loosely coupled services that together form an application. So, when an event is triggered, one or more microservices would be responsible for handling or responding to it.

2. Security

Django has an in-built security provider mechanism whereas it has to be done manually in node.js. The main idea behind providing security in web apps is to never trust any data coming from the browser. 

Because of using microservices, it becomes difficult in node.js to ensure security as data is coming from various sources.

Django provides protection against various types of security attacks some of which are:
Cross-site scripting – where malicious javascript code is either stored in the database or executed through the browser using client-side scripting. 

• Cross-Site Request Forgery – Where a user pretends to be someone else and performs actions on their behalf. Django by default includes {% csrf_token %} template tag to the forms to ensure that only authorized users can submit a form.
  
• SQL Injection Protection – since all the database queries would be made through Django, thus, the data in the database would remain safe against any illegal queries made to access or update the data. But for any custom SQL queries, the protection has to be ensured manually.
  There are many other such attacks against which Django provides protection to the application.

3. Development time

Django provides various tools to help reduce the amount of code. Its philosophy of “batteries-included” saves the developers from writing a large amount of boilerplate code and coming up with a fully functional application quickly. While there are many npm packages available for node.js as well but we cannot blindly trust them as some of them are not well maintained and some might not be optimized or follow the best practices. Thus, overall, Django gains the point in this regard.

4. Complexity

Django requires the developers to follow a particular pathway to get things done while it is quite flexible to work in node.js. Thus, it is easy to learn node.js.

5. Scalability

Django provides features to manage and handle huge amounts of traffic and a large amount of data while node.js can handle a large number of simultaneous requests due to its single-threaded and asynchronous nature.

To scale the application horizontally, no state should be stored locally otherwise any request made to a different server would not be fulfilled. Thus, third-party apps are used to store the states which could be databases, cache, or cloud storage. Django provides tools to integrate these into our application.

In Node.js, requests are handled by API or third parties which do not lead to blockage of the main ( which is also the only thread), thus, enabling it to handle a large number of requests simultaneously.

Also, unlike Django, where there is the support of other tools to improve scalability, node.js provides internal tools like cluster modules to help scale the application. It forks the main process into as many child processes as we have CPU cores and implements the load balancing on these child processes using the round-robin algorithm. It also ensures zero downtime when a process fails or when the entire application is needed to be restarted after deploying.

6. Performance

Node.js being asynchronous is fast compared to Django as multiple tasks can be done simultaneously.

7. Cost efficiency

It takes less time to develop applications in Django making it more cost-efficient whereas Node.js is more time-consuming and thus, costs more. 

8. Community

Django has a reasonably large community but not as large as that of node.js. Node.js is more widely used and also has a very active community.

Node Js Vs Django

Basis	Django	Node.js
Architecture	MVT	Event-driven
Security	More secure (provides in-built security mechanism)	Less secure
Development time	Less time	More time
Complexity	More complex	Less complex
Scalability	Can handle huge traffic and a large amount of data	Can handle a large number of requests simultaneously
Performance	Slower	Faster
Cost efficiency	More cost efficient	Less cost efficient
Community	Relatively smaller and less active	Large and more active

Which company uses Node.js or Django?

Django is being used by famous companies like Instagram, Mozilla, Spotify, Bitbucket, etc, while Node.js is being used by Netflix, NASA, PayPal, LinkedIn, Walmart, Uber, Twitter, GoDaddy, etc.

When to use Node.js or Django?

Django can be used when we need to build an application quickly or when security can be a major concern such as for applications in the fintech domain. Also, it can be used when the application has a large amount of data because Django’s in-built ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) and admin interface make it easy
Node.js can be used when we want to implement microservices or for services that require high bandwidth. It is also recommended to use node.js when we require live streaming or for real-time applications in general, like chat applications, collaboration tools, etc.

Conclusion

Both Django and node.js are widely used, scalable, efficient, and high-performing technologies. It totally depends on the use case as to which one is better. One should only decide on the tech stack for a project after carefully considering the pros and cons of both the technologies and their requirements. 

FAQs

What is the average salary of Django and Node.js developers in India?

The average salary of a Node js developer is slightly above of a Django developer.
Django –

• Ambition Box – 3LPA
• Glassdoor – 4LPA
• Payscale – 7.2LPA

Node.js –

• Ambition Box – 4.4LPA 
• Glassdoor – 4.9LPA
• Payscale – 7.6LPA

Is Django better than NodeJS?

Node. js is better when it comes to building scalable apps that can handle several requests, especially because when you create scalable apps, you will need more flexibility for designing various features of the app. Django also allows you to handle several requests and applications of high traffic.

Where to learn Node js?

In order to learn Node js you can visit: 

• NodeJS Tutorial
• Best Way to Learn Node.js – A Complete Roadmap

Don’t forget to explore the course – Full Stack Development with React & Node JS – Live

Where to learn Django?

In order to learn Django you can visit:

• Django Tutorial
• Getting started with Django