Django Tutorial: Let’s take a deep dive into Django’s web framework

Today, we’ll look at a popular framework that many businesses use to build online apps. In this Django tutorial, we’ll go over the basics of the framework.

This Django course is designed for web developers who are new to the framework and will show you how to create web apps using Django so that you can create websites with this Python backend.

We’ll learn about the Django framework, why you should learn it, its features, architecture, and benefits in this tutorial. In this Django tutorial, we’ll also go over the prerequisites for learning Django, the history of Django, and the companies that utilise it.

When we hear the word “Django”, we immediately ask ourselves, “What is Django?” and “What are the uses of Django?” Let’s start our journey with the definition of Django.

What is Django?

Django is a high-level Python web application framework that facilitates quick web application development. It accomplishes this through a pragmatic, much cleaner design that is also simple to use (in comparison to other frameworks), making it a popular choice among web developers.

It’s a backend framework for resolving database connectivity issues, other server issues, SEO solutions, and so on so that a web developer doesn’t have to create the same code for each website’s identical modules (such as database connection, admin interface).

The Django framework provides all of the functionality in the form of web applications. You just import those applications as needed, allowing you to focus on your website’s specific application rather than all of these underlying difficulties.

Why use Django?

A web framework is a collection of modular tools that withdraw away a lot of the complexity–and repetition–in web development. Most websites, for example, require the same fundamental functionality: the ability to connect to a database, configure URL routes, display content on a page, and appropriately handle security.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, programmers have created web frameworks in all of the major programming languages, including Python’s Django and Flask, Ruby’s Rails, and JavaScript’s Express, among many others.

Django takes Python’s “batteries-included” approach and includes out-of-the-box support for basic web development tasks, such as:

• user authentication
• testing
• database models, forms, URL routes, and templates
• admin interface
• security and performance upgrades
• support for multiple database backends

Instead of recreating the wheel every time for conventional, secure online application functionality, this method allows web developers to focus on what makes a website special.

Several popular frameworks, including Python’s Flask and JavaScript’s Express, take a “microframework” approach. They only supply the bare minimum for a basic web page, leaving it up to the developer to install and configure third-party packages to reproduce basic website functionality. This method gives the developer more flexibility, but it also increases the chances of making mistakes.

Django has already been used by millions of programmers to create websites, which is undoubtedly a positive thing. Web creation is difficult. It’s pointless to rewrite the same code–and make the same mistakes–when a big community of great developers has already done it.

Django, on the other hand, is still in active development and has a yearly release plan. The Django community is always introducing new features and improving security. And, most of all, it’s developed in the Python programming language, which is both readable and powerful. In short, if you’re starting from scratch, Django is an excellent choice.

History of Django

Django Reinhardt, the guitarist, was honoured with the framework’s name. Adrian Holovaty and Simon Willison, two web engineers at the Lawrence Journal-World newspaper, founded Django in 2003. It was released to the public under the BSD licence in July 2005.

Django was created because it inherited Python’s “batteries-included” approach and contains premade modules and applications for typical web development chores such as user authentication, templates, routes, and views, an admin interface, solid security, and support for numerous database backends.

It has solved certain important challenges for web developers that were previously solved at the cost of time and money.

Django Version History

Version	Date	Description
0.90	16 Nov 2005	–
0.91	11 Jan 2006	magic removal
0.96	23 Mar 2007	newforms, testing tools
1.0	3 Sep 2008	API stability, decoupled admin, Unicode
1.1	29 Jul 2009	Aggregates, transaction-based tests
1.2	17 May 2010	Multiple db connections, CSRF, model validation
1.3	23 Mar 2011	Time Zones, in-browser testing, app templates.
1.5	26 Feb 2013	Support for Python 3 and a user model that can be customised.
1.6	6 Nov 2013	Dedicated to Malcolm Tredinnick, connection pooling, and database transaction management.
1.7	2 Sep 2014	Migrations, application loading and configuration.
1.8 LTS	2 Sep 2014	Migrations, application loading and configuration.
1.9	1 Dec 2015	Automatic password validation. New styling for the admin interface.
1.10	1 Aug 2016	Full-text search for PostgreSQL. New-style middleware.
1.11	1.11 LTS	The last version is to support Python 2.7. Supported until at least April 2020
2.0	Dec 2017	First Python 3-only release, Simplified URL routing syntax, Mobile friendly admin.

How Popular is Django?

There is no technique to measure the popularity of server-side frameworks that is both trustworthy and accurate ( Although measures such as tracking the number of GitHub projects and StackOverflow inquiries for each platform can be used to determine popularity.)

A better thing to ask is if Django is “popular enough” to avoid the issues that come with unpopular platforms. Is it still developing? Or is it possible to seek assistance if you require it? Is there a chance you’ll be able to get compensated if you learn Django?

Yes, Django is a popular framework, based on the number of high-profile websites that use it, the number of individuals contributing to the codebase, and the number of people giving both free and commercial support.

Disqus, Instagram, Knight Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Mozilla, National Geographic, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Pinterest are just a few of the high-profile sites that adopt Django.

Is Django “opinionated” or “unopinionated”?

The terms “opinionated” and “unopinionated” are frequently used to describe web frameworks.

Opinionated frames have strong outlooks about the “correct” approach to complete a task. Because the appropriate way to accomplish something is usually well-understood and well-documented, they frequently support rapid development in a specific domain (fixing problems of a specific sort). They are, however, less versatile when it comes to handling challenges outside of their primary domain, with fewer options for components and methodologies.

Unopinionated frameworks, on the other hand, contain significantly fewer constraints on how to connect components to achieve a goal, or even what components should be employed. They make it a lot easier for developers to employ the best tools for a given work but at the risk of having to find those components yourself.

Hence, Django is “a little opinionated,” therefore it gives you the “best of both worlds”. It includes a set of components for most web development jobs, as well as one (or two)recommended methods for using them. Django’s loosely coupled architecture, on the other hand, allows you to pick and choose from a variety of alternatives, or provide support for entirely new ones if necessary.

Prerequisites to Learn Django

You should be familiar with Python and have a basic understanding of the command line interface/PowerShell for Windows or Terminal for macOS/Linux.

Learning Django simply takes a basic understanding of these technologies, thus even a Django newbie may quickly pick up the framework.

Overview on the Reasons to Learn Django

We should understand why we should learn a technology before we start learning it. So, here are some of the reasons why you should learn Django.

Django has a lot of features and is a future-oriented emerging technology. It is worthwhile to learn Django because it is based on Python, which is a very powerful language that will also be used significantly in the future.

The following are some compelling reasons to learn Django:

1. Django Has Changed Through the Years

Since its release, Django has grown in popularity, and it is still going strong after more than a decade in the business. It’s been a long time, and several releases have occurred throughout that time.

Django has corrected numerous security vulnerabilities and added other features, therefore this period accounts for Django’s stability as well as the technology’s capacity to remain competitive.

2. Open-Source Technology

Django is an open-source technology, which means that where the documents aren’t given the attention they deserve, this isn’t the case with Django.

Django has outstanding documentation from its release in 2005, and it is still well maintained, implying that at the time of release, it was the only framework with decent documentation.

3. Great Community

The Django framework community is one of the best out there since they support all projects and respond to any queries helpfully. One of the reasons for the Django community’s rapid growth is this.

As a result, more and more people are turning to Django, and it will become more widely used in the future. This is why it is an excellent complement to your resume.

4. Pre-installed Packages

Because Django has such a vibrant community. It also contains several packages that might help you address your difficulties quickly. These packages are easy to find thanks to well-maintained documentation, allowing for quick developments.

Django Framework’s Features

Since the framework’s introduction, the Django project’s stability, performance, and community have exploded. With each version, the Django framework gains additional features such as database migrations and many more.

1. Stability

Django is generally one of the first frameworks to respond to a newly discovered vulnerability. It signifies that Django is a tested framework that has evolved through time. Django fixes a lot of bugs, but not all of them.

As you’ve probably heard, “Humans get wiser with age; software improves through time”, which is a good say for Django.

2. Documentation is excellent

Despite being an open-source project, Django provides excellent documentation, which is always up to date by Django developers. It was one of the key characteristics that set Django different from other open-source projects when it was first introduced, and it has only become better over time.

3. High Scalability

When employing any technology on larger projects with a vast scope, scalability is a critical consideration. Django can run on any hardware you throw at it while yet being able to develop on smaller devices.

It’s built on a “share-nothing” architecture, which means you may add hardware at any level, including database, server, web, and cache servers.

4. Handles Security Problems

Django eliminates many security vulnerabilities that exist in PHP frameworks by default. Django accomplishes this by dynamically producing web pages and using templates to convey data to web browsers via direct internet access.

5. Makes use of SEO

SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization,” which is a method of enhancing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website by using natural search engine results. The lines between web development and SEO appear to be blurring all the time. However, with Django, this should be less of an issue.

The Django framework uses human-readable website URLs, which aids search engines and is beneficial not only to users but also to search engine algorithms that use the keywords in the URL when ranking sites.

6. A Large Package Library

The Django community is large and supportive, and they supply packages for practically anything you would need in a website, allowing you to quickly create management systems that suit your needs.

7. Possibilities for Pragmatic and Robust Design

Django’s key advantages include the ability to develop full-scale web applications with ease. Its code is written from scratch rather than relying on pre-existing Python libraries.

What is a Web Framework?

A web framework is a piece of software that allows you to create and operate web applications. As a result, you won’t have to waste time writing code on your own and hunting for errors and problems.

All applications were hand-coded in the early days of web development, and only the app’s developer could alter or distribute it. The introduction of web frameworks provided a simple way out of this bind. Because of the appearance of general performance, all the bother associated with updating an application’s structure has been put in order since 1995. Then came the emergence of web-specific languages. Their wide range of options is now suitable for both static and dynamic web pages. Depending on your purpose, you can choose a single framework that meets all of your requirements or combine multiple.

Understanding Django’s Architecture:

We’ll start with the web application framework before moving on to Django architecture. The web application framework is a programme that offers you pre-written components and modules to make online applications easier.

Django offers a lot of features that make it extremely efficient, simple, and enjoyable to use. Django is built on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, which is made up of three parts: model, view, and controller.

Django’s design is MVT (Model-View-Template), with Template replacing View and View replacing Controller. The procedure is the same, with the change of the terminologies.

There is a common misperception that the view in MVT functions similarly to the controller in MVC. However, this is not the case. In the coming articles, we’ll go through this in greater detail.

• Model:

The model, which is represented by a database, is the logical data structure that supports the entire application (generally relational databases such as MySQL, Postgres).

• View:

When you visit a website, the View is the user interface that appears in your browser. HTML/CSS/JavaScript files are used to display it.

• Controller:

The Controller acts as a link between the view and the model. Data is transferred from the model to the view via the controller.

Your application will revolve around the model in MVC design, either displaying it or altering it.

For example, a user will type a URL into their browser, and the request will be sent to a server over the internet protocol (HTTP), which will then call Django.

If the URL path matches, Django will call the Controller, which will retrieve an entry from your database and render a View (HTML/CSS/JavaScript Web page).

MVC Architecture’s Drawbacks –

1. The framework’s navigation can be difficult at times. Users understand the MVC decomposition criteria as a result of the introduction of three layers with abstractions.

2. Parallel programming requires multiple developers.

3. Expertise in a variety of technologies is required.

4. Keeping track of a large number of codes in the controller.

How does Django code appear?

A web application waits for HTTP requests from the web browser in a standard data-driven website (or other clients).

When an application receives a request, it determines what is required based on the URL and perhaps information in the POST or GET payload. It may next read or write information from a database or do other operations to complete the request, depending on what is necessary.

The program will then send a response to the web browser, commonly by putting the acquired data into placeholders in an HTML template and dynamically constructing an HTML page for the browser to display.

The code for each of these steps is usually split up into separate files in Django web applications:

Urls:

While it is possible to process requests from all URLs with a single function, writing a separate view function for each resource is far more maintainable. Based on the request URL, a URL mapper is used to redirect HTTP requests to the appropriate view. The URL mapper can also look for specific patterns of strings or digits in a URL and transmit them as data to a view function.

View:

A view is an HTTP request handler function that receives and responds to HTTP requests. Django Models provide views with the data they need to fulfil requests, while templates handle the return formatting.

Models:

Models are Python objects that specify the structure of an application’s data and provide techniques for managing (adding, modifying, and deleting) and querying database entries.

Templates:

Templates are text files that define the structure or layout of a file (such as an HTML page), with placeholders for actual content. A view can use an HTML template to dynamically construct an HTML page and populate it with data from a model. You can use a template to define the structure of any sort of file; it doesn’t have to be HTML!

Sending a request to the appropriate view (urls.py).

A URL mapper is usually saved in the urls.py file. The mapper (urlpatterns) in the example below defines a set of mappings between routes (particular URL patterns) and view functions. The accompanying view function will be invoked and passed the request if an HTTP Request is received with a URL matching a specified pattern.

Let’s study these concepts with the help of the following codes.

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path
from Employee import views

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    path('TechVidvan/', views.Employee_Details),
]

Urls.py file

Views.py (handling the request):

Views are the heart of the web application, receiving and responding to HTTP requests from online clients. They use the framework’s other resources in the meanwhile to access databases, render templates, and so forth.

The example below demonstrates a simple view function index(), which might have been called by our URL mapper from earlier. It takes an HttpRequest object as a parameter (request) and returns a HttpResponse object, much like all view functions. We don’t do anything with the request in this scenario, and our answer is a hard-coded string.

from django.shortcuts import render, redirect
from django.http import HttpResponse

# Create your views here.


def Employee_Details(request):
    return render (request,'Employee_details.html')

Views.py file

Data model definition (models.py):

Models are Python objects that Django web applications use to manage and query data. Models determine the structure of stored data, including field types and optionally their maximum size, default values, selection list options, documentation help text, form label text, and so on.

from django.db import models

# Create your models here.
class Employee(models.Model):
    Empid= models.IntegerField()
    name= models.CharField(max_length=25)
    address= models.CharField(max_length=100)
    salary= models.IntegerField()
    Department= models.CharField(max_length=25)

Models.py file

Data rendering (HTML templates):

By providing placeholders for data that will be filled in when the page is generated, template systems allow you to establish the structure of an output document. Templates are commonly used to construct HTML, but they can also be used to build other documents. Django comes with support for both its templating system and Jinja2, a popular Python package (it can also be made to support other systems if needed).

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <style>
        body{
            background-color:burlywood;
        }
    </style>
    <title>Employee_details</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>The Employees Here at TechVidvan</h1>
Employee name: {{ first_name }}
</body>
</html>

Types of Django Applications

Django comes with everything you’ll need to get your projects up and running quickly. As a result, many developers consider it to be their preferred framework. Django allows you to create complicated, database-driven web applications such as:

• Machine learning
• E-commerce platforms·
• Data analysis
• Content management

Companies that use Django include

Django is widely used by many large names, and you should be utilising it as well. They alter the framework a lot and use it according to their needs, but it’s still Django at its heart.

We have the following websites that use Django:

1. Instagram

Instagram is a very popular social media app. It is one of the most widely used social media apps. Instagram is built on Django, and they’ve recently joined the Django Software Foundation as a gold sponsor (DSF).

Django works well with other technologies, such as iOS and Android apps. As a result, Instagram can launch rapidly while simultaneously managing millions of active users.

2. Disqus

The Disqus software was built from the ground up using Python and Django, making it one of the largest Django projects out there. They needed their websites to be able to manage a large number of concurrent users

They also created sentry, a state-of-the-art tool that checks for mistakes and is also built on Django.

3. Spotify

Spotify has revolutionised the way we listen to music, and it accomplishes it by implementing machine learning in Python. Python-based AI is used to manage the large song libraries and training.

It uses Django for its web applications to combine things, giving you a full Python experience on Spotify.

4. YouTube

YouTube is the world’s largest video hosting platform, including everything you can think of. It’s a terrific place to watch videos for pleasure, learning, and other purposes. They were previously utilising PHP, but are currently switching to Django.

The rationale for this is that it allows for faster development and can handle a large number of active users. Maintaining the website’s security and speed at the same time.

Visit the Django Sites database for more examples; they have a list of over 5000 Django-powered websites.

There are many more such applications that include django as their web framework. We will discuss the list of all these famous websites in our upcoming article.

Advantages of Django

The Django project is responsible for putting the design concepts into action. These are some of the key features that distinguish Django from other frameworks.

1. Loosely Coupled

The Django framework is loosely connected but firmly bonded, thus different levels of the framework do not need to “know” about one another until it is required. Django has a security advantage over other frameworks because of it.

2. Lesser Code

Django takes full advantage of pre-written apps, requiring you to write far less code.
Django is also created from the ground up in Python, without the use of any libraries, even though it has several common functions. Django’s code is highly optimised for online usage, making it significantly more efficient.

3. DIR (Don’t Repeat Yourself)

Multiple copies of something take up more space and provide less functionality, and the bulkier the code is on the web, the more bandwidth it consumes from the end-user.

This is a typical coding strategy, but Django takes it a step further. It also provides applications for all of the things you may ever require. As a result, you don’t have to write anything that has already been written on other websites; instead, concentrate on your own.

4. Consistency

The basic function of web applications is to act as intermediaries between various technologies. Furthermore, the framework is consistent at all levels and performs consistently. Even if the model is too large or the project is modest, this can happen.

5. Versatile

Django is capable of handling a wide range of tasks, including content management, scientific computing platforms, and even large companies.

6. Rapid Development

Django’s philosophy is to do everything it can to make development as quickly as possible.

7. Clean Design

Django maintains a clean design across its own code, making it simple to follow.

8. Object-Relational Mapping (ORM)

Django acts as a link between the data model and the database engine, and it supports a wide range of databases such as MySQL, Oracle, and Postgres. Django’s Django-nonrel branch also supports NoSQL databases. MongoDB and Google App Engine are the two NoSQL databases that are currently supported.

9. Multilingual Support

Django’s built-in internationalisation framework makes it possible to create multilingual websites. As a result, you can create a website that supports several languages.

10. Framework Support

Django comes with built-in support for Ajax, RSS, Caching, and a variety of other frameworks.

11. Administration GUI:

Django offers a wonderful ready-to-use user interface for administration tasks.

12. Development Environment

Django includes a lightweight web server for end-to-end application development and testing.

Is there anything else you can do?

URL mapping, views, models, and templates are the major aspects that you’ll utilise in practically every online application, as seen in the prior sections. Django also provides several other features, such as:

Forms

HTML Forms are used to collect data from users for server processing. Django makes creating, validating, and processing forms easier.

User authentication and permissions

Django has a secure user authentication and permission system.

Caching

Creating dynamic material takes a lot more computing power (and time) than delivering static content. Django has configurable caching, allowing you to save all or part of a rendered page so that it is only re-rendered when necessary.

Administration Site

When you use the basic skeleton to build an app, the Django administration site is automatically added. It’s a cinch to provide site administrators access to an admin page where they can create, change, and examine any data models on your site.

Data serialisation

Django makes it simple to serialise and serve your data in XML or JSON format. This is beneficial when building a web service (a website that only feeds data to other applications or sites and does not display anything), or when building a website where the client-side JavaScript handles all data presentation.

Disadvantages of Django Framework

• It is unable to handle numerous queries at once.
• It has an impact on the performance of small web apps.
• To work with Django, you must be familiar with the complete system.
• Regex isn’t easy to use for URL specification.

Summary

Congratulations on taking the first step on your Django adventure! You should now have a basic understanding of Django’s primary advantages, a brief history of the language, and an approximate idea of what each of the main components of a Django programme might look like. You should have a basic understanding of the Python programming language, including list, function, and class syntax.

You’ve already seen some real Django code, but you’ll need to build up a development environment to run it, unlike client-side code. That is the next stage for us.

Do you have any questions or comments about the Django tutorial? Please provide your opinions in the comments section.