[Tutor] Python and the web

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Mon, 23 May 2011 04:09:39 am michael scott wrote:
> I want to start getting into web site development. I already know
> basic html and css, which will create a basic webpage. But my
> question is what exactly does python bring to the web?
>
> Are forums, blogs, flash sites, etc the results of web programming or
> can they all be achieved with standard html / css? What exactly can I
> do differently with python than with html and css? Or should I say,
> how can I use python WITH html and css to create something better?

Consider the difference between going to your local hardware store and 
buying lumber, nails and a nailgun, then building the framework of your 
house, versus going out into a forest and cutting down the trees 
yourself, digging up the iron ore to make the nails, and banging them 
in to the timber with a rock.

That's the difference between using a web framework, versus doing 
everything in pure HTML and CSS. Whether the framework is written in 
Python, Ruby, or some other language is incidental. 

If your site stores any sort of user-generated information (forum posts, 
comments, etc) you need to store it in some sort of database, securely, 
without giving random passers-by on the Internet unrestricted access to 
the server hosting your site. A framework will handle this for you.

As for "flash sites", by definition they must be written in Flash, 
otherwise they wouldn't be *Flash* sites, would they? But please don't 
inflict another of those abominations on the world.


-- 
Steven D'Aprano