Django is a high-level web framework written in Python that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. Built by experienced developers, it takes care of much of the hassle of web development, so you can focus on writing your app without needing to reinvent the wheel. It’s free and open source.
Django is a great choice for developing modern web applications. It’s a batteries-included framework that makes many common web development tasks much easier.
Django is a Python-based web framework that allows you to quickly create web applications without all of the hassle of setting up a development environment, managing dependencies, and so on.
Django includes a lot of built-in features, such as:
Django is also very extensible. There are many third-party packages that you can use to add additional functionality to your Django web application.
Django is a great choice for many reasons. It’s a batteries-included framework that makes many common web development tasks much easier.
Some of the benefits of using Django are:
There are many different web frameworks available for Python. So, why should you use Django?
Here are some of the reasons that Django might be a good choice for you:
Now that you know what Django is and why you might want to use it, let’s walk through the process of setting up a Django web application.
The first thing you’ll need to do is set up a development environment. I recommend using virtualenv to create a isolated development environment.
To install virtualenv, run the following command:
pip install virtualenv
Once virtualenv is installed, you can create a new virtual environment by running the following command:
virtualenv myproject
This will create a new directory called myproject that contains a isolated Python development environment.
To activate the virtual environment, run the following command:
source myproject/bin/activate
You will now be able to install packages into the virtual environment without affecting the packages that are installed globally on your system.
Once you have your development environment set up, you can install Django. To install Django, run the following command:
pip install django
This will install Django and all of the required dependencies.
Now that Django is installed, you can create a new Django project. To do this, run the following command:
django-admin startproject myproject
This will create a new directory called myproject that contains the files for your Django project.
Now that you have a Django project, you can start the Django development server. To do this, run the following command:
python manage.py runserver
This will start the Django development server and make your Django project available at http://127.0.0.1:8000/.
One of the most important parts of a Django web application is the URL configuration. The URL configuration is a set of patterns that Django will use to match against incoming URLs.
Each pattern in the URL configuration maps to a view function. When a user requests a URL that matches a pattern, Django will call the corresponding view function and return the result.
For example, consider the following URL configuration:
urlpatterns = [
url(r'^$', 'myapp.views.home'),
url(r'^about/$', 'myapp.views.about'),
]
This URL configuration has two patterns. The first pattern matches the empty string and maps it to the view function myapp.views.home. The second pattern matches the string 'about/' and maps it to the view function myapp.views.about.
View functions are Python functions that take an HttpRequest object as their first argument and return an HttpResponse object.
Here’s a simple view function that returns a HttpResponse object with the string 'Hello, world!':
from django.http import HttpResponse
def home(request):
return HttpResponse('Hello, world!')
Views are the heart of a Django web application. Views are Python functions that take an HttpRequest object as their first argument and return an HttpResponse object.
Here’s a simple view function that returns a HttpResponse object with the string 'Hello, world!':
from django.http import HttpResponse
def home(request):
return HttpResponse('Hello, world!')
View functions can do anything that you can do in a Python function. This means that they can access data from the database, perform calculations, and so on.
The only rule is that they must return an HttpResponse object.
One of the most important parts of a Django web application is the template system. The template system is used to render HTML pages.
Django comes with a built-in templating system that is similar to the one used in the Jinja2 template engine.
To use the Django template system, you first need to create a template. A template is a file that contains the HTML for a Django web page.
Here’s a simple template that just contains the string 'Hello, world!':
{% extends 'base.html' %}
{% block content %}
Hello, world!
{% endblock %}
Once you have created a template, you can render it by using the render() function. The render() function takes the template name and a dictionary of context data.
Here’s an example of how to render the template we just created:
from django.shortcuts import render
def home(request):
return render(request, 'home.html', {})
Django comes with a built-in form system that makes it easy to create HTML forms.
To use the Django form system, you first need to create a form. A form is a Python class that defines the fields that will be rendered as HTML form elements.
Here’s a simple form that just has a single text field:
from django import forms
class MyForm(forms.Form):
myfield = forms.CharField(max_length=100)
Once you have created a form, you can render it in a template by using the {% form %} tag.
The {% form %} tag takes the form object as its first argument and a dictionary of context data as its second argument.
Here’s an example of how to render the form we just created:
{% form form %}
{{ form.myfield }}
{% endform %}
Django comes with a built-in model system that makes it easy to work with data in a database.
To use the Django model system, you first need to create a model. A model is a Python class that defines the fields and behavior of a data object.
Here’s a simple model that just has a single field:
from django.db import models
class MyModel(models.Model):
myfield = models.CharField(max_length=100)
Once you have created a model, you can use the Django admin to add, edit, and delete objects.
You can also use the Django model API to query the database and create, update, and delete objects.
Django comes with a built-in admin system that makes it easy to manage data in a database.
To use the Django admin, you first need to create an admin user. An admin user is a user that has been given permission to access the Django admin.
To create an admin user, run the following command:
python manage.py createsuperuser
Once you have created an admin user, you can log in to the Django admin by going to http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/.
Once you are logged in, you will see the Django admin interface. From here, you can add, edit, and delete objects.
Django is a great choice for developing modern web applications. It’s a batteries-included framework that makes many common web development tasks much easier.
If you’re new to Django, I recommend checking out the Django documentation. It’s a great resource for learning about all of the features of the Django framework.