# Interesting Framework Speed Test Results. Shows Rails 1.2.1 **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [January 30, 2007, 11:07am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/interesting-framework-speed-test-results-shows-rails-1-2-1/83870 "2007-01-30T11:07:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![marstoni](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@marstoni](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/marstoni)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 11:07am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/interesting-framework-speed-test-results-shows-rails-1-2-1/83870/1 "2007-01-30T11:07:39Z")
I found this little post over at the Slicehost forums (http:// [forums.slicehost.com](http://forums.slicehost.com)): [http://www.alrond.com/en/2007/jan/25/performance-test-of-6-leading-](http://www.alrond.com/en/2007/jan/25/performance-test-of-6-leading-) frameworks/ Speed test between Rails (1.1.6 and 1.2.1), Django (w/wo psyco and threaded/pre-forked), TurboGears, Symfony, Catalyst etc. Nginx as the front-end for all of them. Even though they are simulated numbers I thought it might be interesting to discuss. Besides the fact that from these tests Django seems to be whooping serious butt on all fronts, it shows that Rails 1.2.1 seems to be trailing in performance (quite a bit in some places) in comparison to 1.1.6. Anyone seen the same thing in a production site? I’m curious if there is anything significantly missing in these tests and how Django got such great numbers (Or maybe it is just that efficient? I have no real Python/Django experience.). Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![marstoni](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@marstoni](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/marstoni)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/interesting-framework-speed-test-results-shows-rails-1-2-1/83870/2 "2007-01-30T18:54:30Z")
On Jan 30, 4:06 am, “Marston A.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Besides the fact that from these testsDjango > seems to be whooping serious butt on all fronts, it shows that Rails > 1.2.1 seems to be trailing in performance (quite a bit in some places) > in comparison to 1.1.6. Anyone seen the same thing in a production > site? > > I’m curious if there is anything significantly missing in these tests > and howDjangogot such great numbers (Or maybe it is just that > efficient? I have no realPython/Djangoexperience.). Thoughts? Django _is_ just that efficient. 🙂 But there’s a reason for that, and I bring it up here in the hope of fostering a good discussion rather than simply “rah-rahing” Django, the Python framework that I’m involved in developing. We made fundamental decisions in Django that eschewed magic in favor of a bit more explicitness. Plus, performance was baked into the framework from Day One, rather than us taking a “we’ll make it efficient later” stance. As a result, Django doesn’t have to do as many things dynamically as Rails does. The tradeoff is that, in Django, you’ll have to use an import statement if you want to use a certain bit of code, rather than the code magically being available to you. The tradeoff is that, in Django, you define your database models in Python code rather than having the framework introspect the database at runtime. Overall, the tradeoff is that, in Django, you’re a tiny bit more explicit. Of course, this isn’t an “I hate my job, this is so tedious” level of explicitness – Django is, after all, intended to save you a ton of time. It’s more like a pragmatic level of explicitness. And it has some nice side benefits, such as the aforementioned performance benefit (which is important) and the fact that explicit code is more “discoverable” (i.e., it’s easier to poke into the framework to see what’s _actually happening_). If you give Django a shot, I’m pretty sure these differences will jump out at you. Whether you appreciate the difference is completely a personal decision, and no amount of marketing is going to change your mind. (Well, for most people.) The difference between Rails and Django programmers seems to be the programmers’ tolerance for magic. Performance is a nice side benefit of less magic. Adrian – Adrian Holovaty [holovaty.com](http://holovaty.com) | [djangoproject.com](http://djangoproject.com) ---
**Author:** ![marstoni](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@marstoni](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/marstoni)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/interesting-framework-speed-test-results-shows-rails-1-2-1/83870/3 "2007-09-25T23:04:29Z")
On Tuesday 30 January 2007 17:05, Adrian Holovaty wrote: > We made fundamental decisions in Django that eschewed magic in favor > of a bit more explicitness. Plus, performance was baked into the > framework from Day One, rather than us taking a “we’ll make it > efficient later” stance. As a result, Django doesn’t have to do as > many things dynamically as Rails does. Have you measured the influence of any of these decisions? It would be interesting to know what the cost of not being explicit is in various places. > The tradeoff is that, in Django, you’ll have to use an import > statement if you want to use a certain bit of code, rather than the > code magically being available to you. The tradeoff is that, in > Django, you define your database models in Python code rather than > having the framework introspect the database at runtime. Overall, the > tradeoff is that, in Django, you’re a tiny bit more explicit. These are all things that in a Rails app, when run in production environment, happen just once. I’m not convinced that any of these is a major factor in Rails performance. Michael – Michael S. [mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) [http://www.schuerig.de/michael/](http://www.schuerig.de/michael/) ---
**Author:** ![marstoni](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@marstoni](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/marstoni)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/interesting-framework-speed-test-results-shows-rails-1-2-1/83870/4 "2007-09-25T23:10:15Z")
> These are all things that in a Rails app, when run in production > environment, happen just once. I’m not convinced that any of these is a > major factor in Rails performance. I didn’t see any db models even used in the speed test. This just highlights that there are some optimizations to be made in ActionPack. They should try the same test with merb 🙂 – Rick O. [http://weblog.techno-weenie.net](http://weblog.techno-weenie.net) [http://mephistoblog.com](http://mephistoblog.com)