Getting Started With Django

Django was the first framework I used to start building web apps. When I make new Django apps, I always repeat the same work. And remembering how to do that work takes me a little longer than it should. I don’t want to (I may be unable to) remember how to kick off a new venv, create a project, etc. Consider this blog post as a repo for that knowledge.

This is also just a general guide for kicking off a Django project. If you’re using Django for the first time, I recommend you first work through the tutorial, though.

Virtual Environment

No matter the project I’m working on, I always use virtual environments. It keeps my local machine clean. And it makes it easier for people to clone my repos and boot up the project on their own. Virtual environments aren’t required for Django development, but I recommend you use them!

Project Creation

1. In your project directory, create a new virtual environment using the following command: python3 -m venv myenv. This will create a new directory named myenv in your project directory, containing the virtual environment.
2. Activate the virtual environment: source myenv/bin/activate. This will activate the virtual environment, which will modify your shell’s environment variables to use the Python interpreter and packages installed in the virtual environment.
3. Install your necessary packages with pip3 (ex. pip3 install django).
4. Once you’ve installed your necessary packages, create a requirements text file: pip freeze > requirements.txt. People can use this text file and pip to install the packages on their own machines.
5. Whenever you want to exit the virtual environment, run deactivate.

Using the Project as a New User

1. Create a new virtual environment using the following command: python3 -m venv myenv. This will create a new directory named myenv in your project directory, containing the virtual environment.
2. Activate the virtual environment: source myenv/bin/activate. This will activate the virtual environment, which will modify your shell’s environment variables to use the Python interpreter and packages installed in the virtual environment.
3. Install the required packages using the requirements.txt file: pip3 install -r requirements.txt. This will install all the required packages listed in the requirements.txt file.
4. Utilize the project as necessary.

Django

Project Creation

1. In your project directory, create a new Django project by running django-admin startproject <your-project-name> where <your-project-name> is the name of the project (ex. myproject).
2. Access the Django project directory: cd <your-project-name>.
3. Create a Django app: python manage.py startapp <your-app-name> where <your-app-name> is the name of an app in your project (ex. myapp).

Creating an App

1. Once you’ve created your first app with python manage.py startapp <your-app-name>, the next step is to define your models in <your-app-name>/models.py.
2. Add the app to your installed apps in <your-project-name>/settings.py.

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.admin',
    ...,
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    '<your-app-name>', # Add this line
]

3. Then, make the models accessible through the Django admin interface in <your-app-name>/admin.py.

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import model1, model2, model3

admin.site.register(model1)
admin.site.register(model2)
admin.site.register(model3)

4. Now, create the necessary tables in your DB by migrating your DB.

python manage.py makemigrations <your-app-name>
python manage.py migrate

5. Finally, create a superuser in the admin interface: python manage.py createsuperuser. You’ll be prompted to create a username, email, and password. This will give you a login to the /admin page.

Run the Web App

1. If you are using this project as a new user, or if you’ve built your own web app that you’d like to run, ensure you are in the <your-project-name> directory, and then run python manage.py runserver to run the web server. When you’re done, use ctrl+c.

That’s it. You’ve created a virtual environment, Django project, and your first app. Good luck! ☘️