Getting Started with Django

Overview

Django is a high-level Python web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. This beginner's guide will introduce you to the basics of Django, covering the essential concepts and steps you need to start building web applications with it.

Installing Django

Before installing Django, make sure you have Python installed on your system. Django requires Python 3.6 or later.

1. Open a terminal or command prompt and run the following command to install Django using pip:

pip install djangopip install django

1. Verify the installation by running:

django-admin --version

This should display the installed Django version.

Creating a Django Project

1. In the terminal or command prompt, navigate to the folder where you want to create your Django project.
2. Run the following command to create a new Django project:

django-admin startproject myproject

Replace "myproject" with your desired project name. This command will create a new folder with the same name as your project, containing the necessary Django files.

1. Navigate to the newly created project folder using the cd command:

cd myproject

Running the Development Server

1. In the terminal or command prompt, run the following command to start the Django development server:

python manage.py runserver

1. Open a web browser and visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/. You should see the default Django welcome page.

Creating a Django App

1. In the terminal or command prompt, make sure you are in your project folder (where the manage.py file is located).
2. Run the following command to create a new Django app:

python manage.py startapp myapp

Replace "myapp" with your desired app name. This command will create a new folder with the same name as your app, containing the necessary Django files.

1. In your project's settings.py file, add your app to the INSTALLED_APPS list:

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

Creating a Model

1. In your app folder, open the models.py file.
2. Define a new model by creating a new class that inherits from django.db.models.Model. For example:

from django.db import models

class Shrubbery(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    price = models.DecimalField(max_digits=5, decimal_places=2)
    description = models.TextField()

    def __str__(self):
        return self.name

1. In the terminal or command prompt, run the following command to create a new migration based on your model changes:

python manage.py makemigrations

1. Run the following command to apply the migration and create the database table for your model:

Creating Views and Templates

1. In your app folder, open the views.py file.
2. Create a new view function that queries your model and renders a template. For example:

from django.shortcuts import render
from .models import Shrubbery

def shrubbery_list(request):
    shrubberies = Shrubbery.objects.all()
    return render(request, 'myapp/shrubbery_list.html', {'shrubberies': shrubberies})

1. In your app folder, create a new folder named templates. Inside the templates folder, create another folder with the same name as your app (e.g., myapp).
2. Inside the templates/myapp folder, create an HTML file with a name corresponding to the one you used in the render() function of your view (e.g., shrubbery_list.html). Add your desired HTML content and use Django's template language to display the data from your model. For example:

{% for shrubbery in shrubberies %}
    <h2>{{ shrubbery.name }}</h2>
    <p>Price: {{ shrubbery.price }}</p>
    <p>{{ shrubbery.description }}</p>
{% endfor %}

Configuring URLs

1. In your app folder, create a new file named urls.py.
2. In the newly created urls.py file, define the urlpatterns list, which maps URL patterns to views. For example:

from django.urls import path
from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    path('shrubberies/', views.shrubbery_list, name='shrubbery_list'),
]

1. In your project's urls.py file (located in the project folder, not the app folder), import the include function and add a new entry to the urlpatterns list to include your app's URLs:

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

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

Replace "myapp" with the name of your app.

Testing Your Application

1. Start the Django development server if it's not already running:

python manage.py runserver

1. Open a web browser and visit the URL path you configured in your app's urls.py file (e.g., http://127.0.0.1:8000/myapp/shrubberies/). You should see the content you defined in your template, populated with data from your model.

Summary

This beginner's guide to Django has covered the essential concepts and steps to create a simple web application using the framework. As you gain more experience with Django, you'll likely discover more advanced features that can help you build more complex applications. For more detailed information and tutorials, consult the official Django documentation at https://docs.djangoproject.com/.