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Django REST framework VS cURL

Compare Django REST framework VS cURL and see what are their differences

Django REST framework logo Django REST framework

Django REST framework is a toolkit for building web APIs.

cURL logo cURL

cURL is a computer software project providing a library and command-line tool for transferring data...
  • Django REST framework Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-18
  • cURL Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-12-13

Django REST framework features and specs

  • Rich Feature Set
    Django REST framework (DRF) offers a comprehensive toolkit for building Web APIs, including serialization, authentication, and viewsets, which facilitate the creation of complex RESTful services with minimal effort.
  • Integration with Django
    DRF seamlessly integrates with Django's ORM and associated components, allowing for a coherent and efficient development process that leverages all of Django’s features and tools.
  • Robust Documentation
    DRF has extensive, clear, and well-structured documentation, which helps developers understand its features, integrations, and best practices quickly.
  • Community Support
    A large and active community supports DRF, meaning developers can find plenty of resources, tutorials, third-party packages, and forums for troubleshooting and enhancing their applications.
  • Flexibility
    DRF provides a lot of flexibility through class-based views and a highly customizable architecture, allowing developers to tweak their APIs to meet specific project requirements.
  • Authentication Options
    DRF supports multiple built-in authentication methods such as token-based authentication, OAuth, and JWT, along with the ability to create custom authentication mechanisms.

Possible disadvantages of Django REST framework

  • Learning Curve
    Although DRF is powerful, it comes with a steep learning curve, especially for beginners who are not familiar with Django or RESTful concepts, which can lead to a longer onboarding process.
  • Performance Overhead
    The abstraction and additional features provided by DRF can introduce some performance overhead, making raw Django views or other minimal frameworks sometimes more suitable for highly performance-sensitive applications.
  • Complexity
    For small projects or simple APIs, DRF might be overkill due to its inherent complexity and the numerous options it provides, which can slow down initial setup and development.
  • Tight Coupling with Django
    DRF is tightly coupled with Django, meaning that it’s not a suitable choice if you are looking to use a different web framework or need more flexibility in the choice of the underlying web framework.
  • Documentation Depth
    While the documentation is generally excellent, some advanced features are not as deeply covered, which can make implementing more complex customizations challenging without diving into the source code.

cURL features and specs

  • Versatility
    cURL supports a wide range of protocols including HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, and many more, making it a highly versatile tool for developers.
  • Cross-Platform
    cURL can be used on various operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing consistency across different environments.
  • Command-Line Usage
    It can be easily used from the command line, enabling quick and powerful interactions with web services without the need for a graphical interface.
  • Automation
    cURL can be incorporated into scripts for automation, making it essential for repetitive tasks such as automated testing or continuous integration.
  • Support for Multiple Data Formats
    It can work with multiple data formats such as JSON, XML, and form-urlencoded, making it flexible for interacting with various APIs.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source tool, cURL is free to use and has a large community that contributes to its continuous improvement and support.

Possible disadvantages of cURL

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For beginners, the variety of options and parameters available can be overwhelming, requiring time and effort to become proficient.
  • Limited Error Messages
    cURL sometimes provides minimal error messages, which can make debugging issues more complicated, especially for new users.
  • Security Concerns
    Improper handling of SSL certificates or sensitive data could lead to security vulnerabilities, requiring users to be cautious and knowledgeable.
  • Not User-Friendly
    As a command-line tool, it lacks a graphical user interface, which can make it less accessible for users who are not comfortable with terminal commands.
  • Manual Configuration
    Requires manual configuration for advanced options, which can be time-consuming and cumbersome for complex tasks.

Django REST framework videos

Django Vs Django Rest Framework 2020

More videos:

  • Review - Getting Started With Django REST Framework

cURL videos

BOUNCE CURL REVIEW | Curl Review Series #2

More videos:

  • Review - CURLS BLUEBERRY BLISS REVIEW | Curl Review Series #1
  • Review - Curls Triple Threat Review // Frizz Free Curly Hair
  • Tutorial - How to use CURL

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Django REST framework and cURL)
API Tools
34 34%
66% 66
APIs
52 52%
48% 48
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
API Management
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Django REST framework and cURL

Django REST framework Reviews

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cURL Reviews

Top 20 Open Source & Cloud Free Postman Alternatives (2024 Updated)
cURL is a widely used command-line tool for transferring data with URLs. It supports a multitude of protocols, making it a versatile choice for API testing.
Source: medium.com
Top 10 HTTP Client and Web Debugging Proxy Tools (2023)
The uniqueness of cURL above others is that it supports different types of protocols, like HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SFTP, POP3 SCP, and more. As a developer, you have to understand how cURL works.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, cURL seems to be a lot more popular than Django REST framework. While we know about 121 links to cURL, we've tracked only 3 mentions of Django REST framework. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Django REST framework mentions (3)

  • API framework choice?
    Django Rest Framework seems like the most mature and works great with Django. But its strength, if I understand correctly, is for auto-creating all the necessary endpoints for manipulating models, which might be useful for data entry applications. I know that it's super flexible and probably my use case will be covered, but it seems that this it might get complicated. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Django REST difference between permission classes and authentication classes
    There is one last thing I'm a little confused on with Django Rest Framework and that's the different between permission classes and authentication classes. Source: about 3 years ago
  • How to disable admin-style browsable interface of django-rest-framework?
    I am using django-rest-framework. It provides an awesome Django admin style browsable self-documenting API. But anyone can visit those pages and use the interface to add data (POST). How can I disable it? Source: over 3 years ago

cURL mentions (121)

  • Most Effective Approaches for Debugging Applications
    Complex applications, with their interwoven layers of front-end, back-end, and database logic, often obscure bugs. Simplifying the problem by isolating components—such as a React component, a REST API endpoint, or a PostgreSQL query—helps developers focus on the failure point. Spencer Romenco, Chief Growth Strategist at Growth Spurt, shares a case study: “Simplifying and isolating the problem has always been the... - Source: dev.to / 10 days ago
  • The Inflation of "Security Researchers" and Its Consequences for Open Source
    A well-documented case that illustrates this problem is CVE-2020-19909, which was recently reassigned as a "critical" vulnerability in Curl — despite being a decades-old, non-exploitable bug. This case exposes the systemic flaws in how CVEs are assigned and scored [Daniel Stenberg’s blog][Hacker News discussion]. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Python for Beginners: Chapter 2 – Building Your First REST API with Flask
    For POST, PUT, and DELETE, you'll need a tool like Postman or curl. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • How to Build a CRUD API with Laravel for Beginners
    To test the API, you can use a tool like Postman or cURL. Here are the routes you can test:. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Open Source Developer Patronage Programs: A Sustainable Future for FOSS
    Projects like curl and Homebrew have successfully leveraged patronage programs to achieve financial sustainability. These examples highlight the potential for other projects to follow suit and secure the funding necessary for continued innovation. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Django REST framework and cURL, you can also consider the following products

Postman - The Collaboration Platform for API Development

Insomnia REST - Design, debug, test, and mock APIs locally, on Git, or cloud. Build better APIs collaboratively for the most popular protocols with a dev‑friendly UI, built-in automation, and an extensible plugin ecosystem.

Amazon API Gateway - Create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale

Apigee - Intelligent and complete API platform

HTTPie - CLI HTTP that will make you smile. JSON support, syntax highlighting, wget-like downloads, extensions, and more.

Apiary - Collaborative design, instant API mock, generated documentation, integrated code samples, debugging and automated testing