Reflex
p/reflex-5
Build web apps in Pure Python 10x faster
Michael Seibel
Reflex — Build web apps in pure Python
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Build a web app in pure Python in minutes. Deploy with a single command. Completely customizable UI. Scale from a small prototype to a full production web app.
Replies
Nikhil Rao
Hi PH! I’m Nikhil, founder of Reflex (https://reflex.dev) We're building Reflex, an open source framework to build full stack web apps in Pure Python. Why? Python is one of the most popular programming languages in the world. Web dev is one of the most popular applications of programming. So why can’t we make full-stack web apps using just Python? We found that even skilled engineers who wanted to make a web app but didn’t know traditional frontend tools like Javascript / React found it too overwhelming and time consuming. And even after they made their app, deploying it was a nightmare. We wanted to provide them with a framework where they can leverage their existing Python skills to create and deploy apps, without compromising on flexibility or customization. Recent no code and low code alternatives have issues. No code solutions that save time in the development process lack the flexibility and robustness of traditional web development. Low code frameworks are often confusing and only solve part of the problem forcing you to use multiple tools to get the job done. We want to bridge this gap by creating a framework that is easy and intuitive to get started with, while remaining flexible and powerful to support any app. What's our backstory? Before working on Reflex, I worked on AI projects at DriveAI and then at Apple. On these teams, we used Python for everything from data analysis to machine learning to backend services. But when it came to building user interfaces or apps so that others could use our work, there wasn't a good option to stay in Python. Suddenly, we had to switch to JavaScript and learn a whole new ecosystem. Making a UI should be simple, but even though we had great engineers on our team, the overhead of learning a new language and tools was a huge barrier. Often making a UI was harder than the actual work we were doing! Goals of Reflex: 1. 🐍 Pure Python: Use one language for your web app. 2. 💡 Easy to get started: Build your ideas easily without needing web development experience. 3. ⚡ Full flexibility: Web apps should match the customizability and performance of traditional web frameworks. 4. 🔋 Batteries included: Handle the full-stack from the frontend, to the backend, to deployment. Deploy with a single command reflex deploy and zero configuration. 5. 🥞 Empower Your Team: Instead of having separate dedicated engineers for frontend, backend, and infra, every engineer can now understand and work across the whole stack. It's time to leave outdated web app development methods in the past and allow pure python developers to work across the full stack, bridging the gap between front-end and back-end development to create fully customizable and scalable web applications. That's why we're building Reflex. What issues have you had with python web development? I would love to hear your ideas, experiences, and feedback on any and all of the above.
Raju Singh
@picklelo was looking for something like this for my next. Looks cool. Any distinct advantage of using this over others for a python enthusiast
Nikhil Rao
@imraju Thanks for checking us out! Our main advantage is we are more customizable and performant than most other Python frameworks, either require some Javascript, or are only good for prototyping. I wrote a blog post discussing more about this here: https://reflex.dev/blog/2024-03-...
Girdharee Saran
Congratulations on the launch of Reflex! This innovative platform allows you to build web apps in pure Python in minutes, with deployment as simple as a single command. The completely customizable UI enables you to scale from a small prototype to a full production web app seamlessly. How does Reflex ensure security and performance while allowing developers to build web apps in pure Python?
Nikhil Rao
@10xmarketer Thanks for the support! Our apps compile down to a NextJS frontend app and a FastAPI backend app connected by a web socket connection. Our goal is to have the same performance and security benefits you'd get using a traditional frontend framework.
Vidit Gupta
Amazing idea!
Micha Cassola
Web apps in python! A dream for anybody going from back to frontend.
tom gotsman
@michacassola This is exactly what our aim is for the framework!
Erik Schwartz
I came across Reflex a few weeks ago for a project and was really looking for a toolkit that allowed me to build both the frontend and backend in Python so that I could stand up quick applications that could be easily integrated with tools and LLMs. Having to juggle Flask for backend with HTML, JavaScript and CSS was just too much. Reflex makes it dead simple. 100% pure Python without giving up anything. The local runtime server does all the heavy lifting for you, including managing dependencies and watching for code changes and automatically restarting. Iterations are a breeze. Reflex deployments are a true game changer. It makes it downright trivial to share your app with anyone. The Discord community is also awesome, engaging directly with the founders for almost immediate support. The only challenge that I found is that the abstraction layer requires heavy typing so you can’t just be sloppy and let Python figure it out for you. Deployed apps need a bit more observability too (logging, metrics, etc). Highly, highly recommend.
Nikhil Rao
@eschwaa Thanks so much for the feedback and support! Our top priority right now is to improve a lot of the onboarding and gotchas especially w.r.t. typing. We want to bring that initial learning curve down so people can just focus on their ideas and not fight with the framework. And agreed on the deployment, we want the hosting service to have full observability in the future.
Erik Schwartz
@picklelo and of course the white glove support from you is awesome! I’m glad you are aware of the typing issues. And really looking forward to seeing the embedding patterns emerged as we discussed on Discord! Super cool stuff. I will definitely stay engaged.
Bruno Brasil
Uau this is beautiful framework. 🚀🚀🚀
karanveer
haven't tried it but heard good things about it. I wish you all the best guys. 👍
Luis Arias
Way to go @picklelo and team!
Devluc
Awesome project. Supported and starred. Congratulations for the launch
tom gotsman
@luciantartea We massively appreciate the support, let us know how you find the framework!
Garen Orchyan
I like the concept of Reflex. Great job team, best of luck today!
tom gotsman
@orchyan Thank you for the support!
Ali Rohde
LOVE
shiv
Hey @picklelo we've been using Reflex for almost 6 months now and we absolutely love it :)
tom gotsman
@shivkodam So glad to hear you've been using Reflex for a while. What sort of products are you building out of interest?
Nikhil Rao
@shivkodam Awesome to hear, thanks for the support!
Odeth N
We have been using Reflex for our developers. It's really cool to see you guys here! What can I say your platform is so simple and easy to use. Congratulations!
tom gotsman
@odeth_negapatan1 Cannot wait to see what your team build!
Viswanatha Reddy
Great one!! Definitely will consider this for my upcoming project. Congratulations on the launch. All the best.
tom gotsman
@viswanatha Amazing, cannot wait to hear your feedback on the framework!
Pasquale Puzio
💎 Pixel perfection
We have been using Reflex for a few months now and it's been literally a game changer for us. Our small team can now build and ship great products on web too!
Alek Petuskey
@pasqualepuzio Thanks Pasquale, it has been great working with you and your team!
tom gotsman
@pasqualepuzio So glad to hear Reflex has been useful. What sort of products have you been building?
Pasquale Puzio
@tom_gotsman one is already out: https://leghe.fantamaster.it (in Italian, sorry) More are coming :)
tom gotsman
@pasqualepuzio Love this app!!
Vince.J
interesting that Python still has alot of likeability from the ecosystem. Twitter might lie to you otherwise. Congratulations on your successful launch on PH! 🎉🎉
Preston McCauley
Loving this so far; I really want to use Python to build some quicker React apps. A few modifications and changed the chat app to my local LLM. A lot of potential here.
Nikhil Rao
@preston_mccauley1 Thanks for checking it out! We're releasing a chat component soon which can give you the whole component out of the box, it should be even easier to hook up then.
Paul Burca
I should definitely check it with my team!
Vadim Korolik
Congrats on the launch 🚀
tom gotsman
@vkorolik Appreciate the support!
André J
What's the top 3 best apps built with this out there in the wild? # Proof is in the pudding. 😬