Todo List Comparison Project

This project demonstrates a minimal todo list application implemented with two different backend technologies:

• Django (Python) - A batteries-included web framework
• Rust (Axum) - A high-performance systems language

Both backends serve the same Vue.js/React frontend, showcasing how different technologies can implement identical functionality.

System Requirements

Common Requirements

• Linux/macOS with Bash (Windows users can use WSL2)
• SQLite3 (usually pre-installed on Linux/macOS)
• Node.js
• Git

Django Backend Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• Django 4.2+
• Python packages:

  pip install django djangorestframework django-cors-headers

Rust Backend Requirements

• Rust 1.65+ (install via rustup)
• Cargo (Rust's package manager, included with Rust)
• SQLx CLI (for database migrations):

  cargo install sqlx-cli --features native-tls,postgres,sqlite,mysql

• Required Rust crates (automatically handled by Cargo):
  • Axum
  • Tokio
  • SQLx
  • Serde

Frontend Requirements

• npm
• Vite + React
• Axios 1.0+

Project Structure

ToDo-example/
├── todo-app/      # Django/Python implementation
│   ├── requirements.txt
│   ├── manage.py
│   └── todo/
│   |   ├── models.py
│   |   ├── views.py
│   |   └── urls.py
|   ├── frontend/           # Separated Vite frontend for urls diffence 
│   ├── src/
│   |   ├── components/
│   |   ├── api/
│   |   └── App.jsx
│
├── rust-backend/        # Rust/Axum implementation
│   ├── Cargo.toml
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── main.rs
│   │   ├── routes.rs
│   │   └── models.rs
|   ├── frontend/           # Separated Vite frontend for urls diffence
│   ├── src/
│   |   ├── components/
│   |   ├── api/
│   |   └── App.jsx
│
└── README.md

Features

Both implementations provide:
✅ Create, read, update, delete tasks
✅ Task completion toggle
✅ CSRF protection
✅ SQLite database persistence
✅ REST API endpoints

Key Differences

Aspect	Django Implementation	Rust Implementation
Language	Python	Rust
Framework	Django	Axum
ORM	Django ORM	SQLx
Performance	Moderate	High
Safety	GC-managed	Compile-time checks
Boilerplate	More	Less

Setup Instructions

Django Backend

cd /ToDo-example/todo-app/backend
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python manage.py makemigrations todo
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py runserver

Frontend

cd /ToDo-example/todo-app/frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Rust Backend

cd /ToDo-example/todo-app-rs/backend
sqlx migrate run
cargo build --release
cargo run

Frontend

cd /ToDo-example/todo-app-rs/frontend
npm install
npm run dev

API Endpoints

Both backends implement the same API:

• GET /api/tasks - List all tasks
• POST /api/tasks - Create new task
• PATCH /api/tasks/:id - Update task
• DELETE /api/tasks/:id - Remove task
• GET /api/csrf - Get CSRF token

Why This Comparison?

This project serves as:

• A learning resource for comparing web frameworks
• A reference implementation for both stacks
• A demonstration of REST API design principles
• An example of decoupled frontend/backend architecture

Contributing

Pull requests welcome! Please maintain:

1. Feature parity between implementations
2. Clean, documented code
3. Consistent API responses