Getting Started

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Getting Started#

Django is an opinionated framework that provides a complete set of tools for web development, from URL routing to form handling and user authentication. It promotes best practices in web development through its structure and conventions, encouraging developers to write maintainable and scalable code. Django’s middleware system allows for global processing of requests and responses, enabling the implementation of complex features like session handling and caching with minimal effort.

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Here are the basic steps to code a simple Django project:

Installation

pip install django

Create a project

django-admin startproject myproject
cd myproject

Create an app

python manage.py startapp myapp

Configure settings: Edit myproject/settings.py

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ...
    'myapp',
]

Define a model

from django.db import models

class Item(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    description = models.TextField()

    def __str__(self):
        return self.name

Create and apply migrations

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

Create a view

from django.shortcuts import render
from .models import Item

def item_list(request):
    items = Item.objects.all()
    return render(request, 'myapp/item_list.html', {'items': items})

Create a template

<h1>Items</h1>
    <ul>
    {% for item in items %}
        <li>{{ item.name }} - {{ item.description }}</li>
    {% endfor %}
</ul>

Configure URL patterns

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    path('', include('myapp.urls')),
]

Create myapp/urls.py

from django.urls import path
from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    path('', views.item_list, name='item_list'),
]

Run the development server

python manage.py runserver

Create a superuser

python manage.py createsuperuser

Register models in the admin: Edit myapp/admin.py

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Item

admin.site.register(Item)

Forms Create myapp/forms.py

from django import forms
from .models import Item

class ItemForm(forms.ModelForm):
    class Meta:
        model = Item
        fields = ['name', 'description']

Create, update, delete views: Add to myapp/views.py

from django.shortcuts import render, redirect, get_object_or_404
from .forms import ItemForm
from .models import Item

def item_create(request):
    if request.method == 'POST':
        form = ItemForm(request.POST)
        if form.is_valid():
            form.save()
            return redirect('item_list')
    else:
        form = ItemForm()
    return render(request, 'myapp/item_form.html', {'form': form})

def item_update(request, pk):
    item = get_object_or_404(Item, pk=pk)
    if request.method == 'POST':
        form = ItemForm(request.POST, instance=item)
        if form.is_valid():
            form.save()
            return redirect('item_list')
    else:
        form = ItemForm(instance=item)
    return render(request, 'myapp/item_form.html', {'form': form})

def item_delete(request, pk):
    item = get_object_or_404(Item, pk=pk)
    if request.method == 'POST':
        item.delete()
        return redirect('item_list')
    return render(request, 'myapp/item_confirm_delete.html', {'item': item})

Add URL patterns for CRUD operations Update myapp/urls.py

from django.urls import path
from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    path('', views.item_list, name='item_list'),
    path('create/', views.item_create, name='item_create'),
    path('update/<int:pk>/', views.item_update, name='item_update'),
    path('delete/<int:pk>/', views.item_delete, name='item_delete'),
]

Static files: Configure STATIC_URL in settings.py

STATIC_URL = '/static/'

Use static files in templates:

{% load static %}
<link rel="stylesheet" href="{% static 'css/style.css' %}">

User authentication: Add to myapp/views.py

from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required

@login_required
def protected_view(request):
    return render(request, 'myapp/protected.html')

Testing: Create tests in myapp/tests.py

from django.test import TestCase
from .models import Item

class ItemModelTest(TestCase):
    def test_string_representation(self):
        item = Item(name="Test Item")
        self.assertEqual(str(item), item.name)

Run tests

python manage.py test

Database configuration: For PostgreSQL, install psycopg2 and update DATABASES in settings.py

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': 'your_db_name',
        'USER': 'your_db_user',
        'PASSWORD': 'your_db_password',
        'HOST': 'localhost',
        'PORT': '5432',
    }
}

Deployment preparation: Update settings.py for production:

DEBUG = False
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['your-domain.com']

This guide covers the fundamental aspects of Django. As you progress, explore more advanced topics like class-based views, Django REST framework for API development, and integrating with front-end frameworks.

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