Python/Django for an enterprise large scale web based system?

Question

My company is highly dependent on Java and jsf; All projects since I was hired are implemented using them. But most of those projects are facing problems related to performance and availability. So am finally considering a shift to other technologies and I have tried to research in the net, and im about to decide to try python. But before i start i would like to hear ur answer that Python would solve me the performance problems we are facing.

To make things clear the performance problems we mostly face are related to glassfish server and page loading. We are currently using ice faces and have tried wood stock back then. Additionally I can't use .net for some policy related issues. And PHP is also out of question due to some security leaks experienced in earlier projects.

So am expecting to read the pros and cons related with performance and availability in trying to convince my boss and customers in to python.

Answer 1

I have some doubts that you will gain performance by using Django or a Python based solution. I don't know the Glassfish server nor how it scales up but unless badly designed I don't see why it should perform badly.

From the explanation of your performance issues, it doesn't seem to be a problem of language speed but instead, server configuration and availability.

Assuming that your Java code is reasonably optimal (i.e. efficient and acceptably fast), you won't solve the problem by using some Python solution. Instead you should invest some time into studying caching mechanisms and/or proxy solutions.

Depending on how your server is setup, an additional advice would be to let all the static content be served by a dedicated server such as Apache, nginx or similar and only leave the the dynamic content on to be interpreted by your glassfish server.

Since your projects are written in Java you are in theory using a language that can potentially be faster than Python, I don't see why a Python solution would perform better unless there is something wrong with the framework you are using.

If you want to talk about prototyping or faster development, then that's a different subject discussed multiple times on stackoverflow.