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Chaturbate and 12 Other Built-with Django Websites

Chaturbate is a hugely popular site, but have any of you ever wondered what technologies drive it? After all, it is able to handle thousands of concurrent livestream to a massive audience at any given time.

To get a sense of the scope and volume of traffic handled, Chaturbate has an average of 1,000 to 3,000 cam models online at any given time. Each of those will have an audience size that ranges from a handful to over then thousand.

Compared to the measly amount of traffic that local banks (for example) get, how do sites like Chaturbate handle this volume so well?

To understand this, let’s take a look at how Chaturbate is built.

Checking Out Chatubate (not Camgirls) on WHSR

WHSR website tool - Reveal website infrastructure and technology
To use, simply type in the URL and hit ‘Search’ and let the magic happen.

WHSR recently implemented a feature (you can access it on our home page here) that enables our readers to check out what powers websites. From their nameservers to IP address and web technologies, you can access it all simply by typing in the address of the site you want to check.

To demonstrate this, I checked up Chaturbate since it really is impressive how they manage to handle such a huge load (no pun intended). Aside from the pure power of the web hosting resources they use, web technologies contribute a large part towards their capabilities.

As you can see from the image above, Chatubate makes use of Django (pronounced as JANG-oh), a Python framework. This is part of what helps it stay nimble yet powerful. To understand why, let’s take a look at what exactly Django is and does. 

What is Django?

Django makes it easier for Python developers to build web applications quickly. Python itself is a high-level language, making it relatively simple to learn. On top of that, it was designed for enhanced code readability.

Django takes that and improves it further, allowing code divers to construct repetitive code for reuse. This results in less bulky code and hence, a lighter and more agile web application.

If you’re ever heard the term “do more with less”, that just about summarizes the theory behind the Django framework.

Also read – Best Django Hosting Services

Why is Django so powerful?

From a bird’s eye view, Django:

  • Helps speed up application web development
  • Fully integrates common development tasks
  • Is highly scalable for site traffic volume
  • Has multiple built-in security aids
  • Can be used to build all kinds of web apps

Awesome Websites Built on Django

1. Instagram

Instagram is build using Django

website: https://www.instagram.com/

According to Instagram's engineering team, their site is currently representative of the largest deployment on a Django framework in existence. It’s written entirely in Python, which was chosen for being both simple and practical.

Because of the platform’s sheer size and growth rate, they eventually also had to focus on efficiency. Still, Django manages to do that for them as has been able to support growth to date.

2. Spotify

Spotify

Website: https://www.spotify.com/

Spotify has had a more moderate growth rate but in recent years that has accelerated significantly. Due to the nature of their site, MapReduce plays a significant role. To that end they chose to code those in Python.

They have used Python to build over 6,000 processes. Django does come into play but to a lesser extent and mostly in satellite apps. Still, the core Python concept remains and applies heavily to prototyping, build processes, and more

3. Mozilla Firefox Support Site

Mozilla Support Site

Website: https://support.mozilla.org/

While Mozilla isn’t entirely built on Django many portions of their business has been. Some examples of these include the Firefox support site. Aside from this, they also make use of Django-based apps such as Kuma, which powers the Mozilla Developer Network Webdocs.

4. Google Person Finder

Website: https://google.org/personfinder/

Even a company as large as Google has made use of Django. However, given the size and scope of the organization, not everything is built on the Django framework. One example that does is their Person Finder tool.

On top of that, Google Engineers who work on other non-core projects also extensively use Python and Django. Some of the code built is even available on Github for public viewing and adaptation.

Python is also also used in YouTube, code.google.com, and other areas that Google encompasses as well.

5. Disqus

Website: https://disqus.com/

Disqus is a bit different from the others on this list since it’s not really considered one single instance. The app works as a networking plugin for installations across the entire web. This makes their choice of platform supremely interesting.

As the network grows and requests reach new heights in volume, their choice of Django hasn’t been regretted. Discus engineers favor rapid development and familiarity over sheer performance, and Django has been an exact fit.

6. HubSpot

Website: https://www.hubspot.com/

In a more practical sense, HubSpot is a good example of a Django-environment built and run CRM app. Running on Python 3 and the Django Rest Framework, the app helps customers streamline what their sales and marketing staff do through automation.

There have also been a few HubSpot APIs built and then released on Github using the same Framework, or at least as a wrapper.

7. NASA

Webiste: https://www.nasa.gov/

I’ve seen multiple mentions of the NASA site using Django and/or Python but this isn’t entirely correct. As with many other companies, NASA only uses it for specific applications such as a handful of utilities.

What makes these use cases interesting though is that although NASA doesn’t have the volume of traffic top sites may, they deal in a lot of bandwidth. This is to cover their delivery of mega-sized high resolution imagery.

8. Dropbox

Website: https://www.dropbox.com/

Cloud storage sites like Dropbox are ideal candidates for the use of Python (and hence, Django). Since early days, Dropbox has been built on Python and in their case, something significant was observed.

When major migrations are concerned, applications that cover the sheer size and scope of dropbox are no small thing. Dropbox started migrating form python 2 to Python 3 in 2015 – a move which took three whole years to complete!

9. Udemy

Website: https://www.udemy.com/

For similar reasons to YouTube and NASA, Udemy also uses Django and Python for their site. This helps in multiple ways, from the ready-to-use pre-built processes to robustness in reliability.

Django is especially good for sites like Udemy which have very boilerplate functionality which can still be customized further by their own developers. Its helps provide a very broad foundation that they can build on. 

10. Opera

Website: https://www.opera.com/

Mozilla isn’t the only browser to look favorably on Django and Opera has parts of it built on Django as well. For example, their sync function is done entirely on Django making use of the Python driver and Cassandra Engine.

This is another example of how Django can help developers build solutions very quickly thanks to the extensive pre-built codebase that it has. 

11. The Washington Post

Website: https://www.washingtonpost.com/

The Washington Post made use of Django for some features right when the framework was introduced. That was an early vote of confidence and at the time, the app worked with a database of over four million records.

The Django app was designed to handle The Washington Post’s Congress Vites database. Even during peak operating periods it was rock-steady and has no problems handling major volumes of traffic.

12. Django Girls

Website: https://djangogirls.org/

The proof is in the pudding as they say and this website puts their money where their mouth is. Django girls is a non-profit that helps women by organizing free programming workshops inclusive of tools and resources.

The site is built using the Django framework and they, naturally, teach HTML, CSS, Python, and Django. It’s been online since 2014 and has gathered a massive volunteer force of over 2,000 to help the Django Girls community.


Looks Great! Where Do I Get Django?

Django is open source and has a large and dedicated fanbase. This means that it is widely available but I recommend you look for it on the Django Project site. Django can be installed and run on local machines running various platforms such as Windows.

Alternatively, you can look for web hosting that supports Django and build to deploy immediately. After all, why waste time configuring your local machine if you can get your web application off to an early start.

Not all hosts will support Django though and you need to be careful about the performance of the web host in any case. To help you out we also have a compilation of some of the best Django hosting you can find.

Final Thoughts: Where Django Makes the Best Fit

Despite all of the use cases we’ve outlined, Django isn’t always the ideal solution. It is fantastic when you’re building something that needs a base and yet is easily customizable such as video streaming or social media sites. The key focus though is simply not reinventing the wheel.

Because Django also helps hide source code, use of it also offers a very good front-line defence against code vulnerability. When you factor in its user authentication model, Django is extremely suitable for secure environments as well.

Still, despite this and other pros of the environment, there are occasions when Django won’t be ideal. For example, it’s focus on re-usability results in a slightly bulkier overhead, making it less efficient when used to build smaller apps.

To know when to use Django, simply docs on your needs. If your key intention is reliability, rapid deployment, or security, then Django might be a good choice.

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Article by Jason Chow

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