Why choose CherryPy?
Let's face it: there are dozens of different Python web frameworks. Why would you want to choose CherryPy for your next dynamic Web project?
1. Simplicity
Developing with CherryPy is a simple task. "Hello, world" is only a few lines long, and does not require the developer to learn the entire (albeit very manageable) framework all at once. The framework is very pythonic, that is, it follows Python's conventions very nicely (code is sparse and clean).
Contrast this with J2EE and Python's most popular and visible web framework, Zope. In all of them, the learning curve is massive. In these frameworks, "Hello, world" requires the programmer to set up an entire object framework which spans multiple files and typing a lot of boilerplate code. CherryPy succeeds because it does not include the bloat of other frameworks such as Zope, allowing the programmer to write their web application quickly while still maintaining a high level of organization and scalability.
CherryPy is also very modular. The core is fast and clean, and extension features are easy to write and plug in using code or the elegant config system. The primary components (server, engine, request, response, etc.) are all extendable (even replaceable) and well-managed.
In short, CherryPy empowers the developer to work with the framework, not against or around it.
2. Power
CherryPy leverages all of the power of Python. Python is a dynamic langauge which allows for rapid development of applications. Python also has an extensive built-in API which simplifies web app development. Even more extensive, however, are the third-party libraries available for Python. These range from object-relational mappers to form libraries, to an automatic Python optimizer, a Windows exe generator, imaging libraries, email support, HTML templating engines, etc. CherryPy applications are just like regular Python applications. CherryPy does not stand in you way if you try to use these brilliant tools.
CherryPy also provides an object publisher, sessions, aspects and filters, which are the powerful tools needed to develop world-class web applications.
3. Maturity
Maturity is extremely important when developing a real-world application. CherryPy has a final, stable release. It is fully bugtested, optimized, and proven reliable for real-world use. The API will not suddenly change and break backwards compatibility, so your applications are assured to continue working even through subsequent updates in the current version series. CherryPy is also a "3.0" release. The first edition of CherryPy set the tone, the second edition made it work, and the third edition makes it beautiful. Each version builds on lessons learned from the previous, bringing the developer a superior tool for the job.
4. Community
CherryPy has an active community that develop deployed CherryPy applications and are willing and ready to assist you on the CherryPy mailing list. The developers also frequent the list and often answer questions and implement features requested by the end-users.
5. Deployability
Out of the box, CherryPy includes its own production-ready application server to host your application. If the application needs to be deployed on Apache, there is copious documentation discussing how to connect the two. CherryPy can also be deployed on any WSGI-compliant gateway, which is a technology for interfacing numerous types of web servers.
In addition, CherryPy is pure-python and is compatible with Python 2.3. This means that CherryPy will run on all major platforms that Python will run on (Windows, MacOSX, Linux, BSD, etc).
Python-hosting.com, run by the lead CherryPy developer, is a commercial web host that offers CherryPy hosting packages (in addition to several others). Unlike many other Python web frameworks, there are cost-effective ways to deploy your CherryPy application.
6. It's free!
All of CherryPy is licensed under the open-source BSD license, which means CherryPy can be used commercially for ZERO cost.
7. Where to go from here?
Check out the CherryPy tutorial, and choosing a templating language is highly recommended to ease development.
