Django Tutorials [Beginners To Advanced Level]

If you want to become a Python expert, you should learn Django. What is Django, and why is it used? I will also explain how to install Django in Python and how to import Django in Python. Here, you will learn everything about Python Django from our list of Django tutorials.

What is the Python Django Framework?

Django is a high-level Python web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. It is designed to help developers swiftly complete applications from concept to completion. Django is known for its “batteries-included” philosophy, which means it comes with many built-in features, such as an ORM (Object-Relational Mapper), authentication, and an admin interface. This makes it a comprehensive tool for building web applications.

In Django, you need to follow the MVT architecture for building the web app. MVT stands for Model View Controller. It’s free and open-source, has a thriving and active community, great documentation, and many options for free and paid-for support.

Features of Python Django

So far, we have understood what a Django framework is and for what purpose it has been used. Now, let’s understand why Django is one of the most popular frameworks for web development.

Django offers a large variety of features that make the development process clean and efficient. It combines many functionalities, making it a complete framework. Here is a list of some of the main features that Django offers.

Features	Meaning
Open Source	Django is a secure framework as it provides tools to assist developers in avoiding typical security problems. It also provides an authentication system to store and manage user accounts and passwords.
Fast Development	Django was designed with the goal of creating a framework that would allow developers to develop web applications in less time. So, Django reduces the project implementation, allowing rapid web development.
Scalable	Django was designed to create a framework that would allow developers to develop web applications in less time. So, Django reduces the project implementation, allowing rapid web development.
Secure	Django is a secure framework as it provides tools to assist developers in avoiding typical security problems. It also provides an authentication system to store and manage user accounts and passwords. Django takes security seriously and helps developers avoid many common security mistakes.
Largely supported libraries	Django contains a large set of modules and libraries that can be used to manage different web development tasks.
Admin Interface	Django is one of the most popular web development frameworks. It has a large and friendly community and channels for sharing and connecting.
Large Community	Django is one of the most popular web development frameworks. So, it has a large and friendly community as well as channels for sharing and connecting.

Check out the page SciPy in Python and read all the tutorials

What is Python Django used for

Django was initially designed to develop web applications for a newspaper company, the Lawrence Journal-World. So, it is fantastic at handling projects with a lot of text content, media files, and high traffic. However, the use of this framework isn’t limited to the publishing business only.

With each new release of Django, new features are added, making it efficient enough to build any type of web application. We can use Django to develop anything from a social media website to an e-commerce store.

Here are some of the areas where Django is used nowadays.

Platforms with B2B CRM systems, Custom CRM systems
Platforms with features for data analysis, filtration, etc.
Creating admin dashboards
Creating an email system
Creating a verification system
Creating algorithm-based generators
Platforms with machine learning

Python Django Architecture

Django follows its convention of Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, named Model View Template (MVT). The MVT is a software design pattern that mainly consists of 3 components: Model, View, and Template.

The Model in the MVT architecture is a data access layer used to handle data. It is crucial in connecting the entire architecture to the database. Each model is linked to a single database table, and we use the models.py file.

The model is the data structure of your Django application. Using the model, you can define the database schema, business logic related to data, and data access. But how is the Django model defined?
Django uses ORM, which stands for Object-Relational Mapping. This allows you to define the model as Python classes. Each Python class you define within the model represents a table in the database.
As you know, when you define Python classes, you also define their variables. In the Django model, those variables are called fields, and these fields represent the columns of the table.
The Django model encapsulates data, allowing you to execute database actions such as querying, creating, updating, and deleting records without writing SQL queries.
With the Django model, you don’t need to worry about SQL queries; just write the Python classes.

The View in MVT architecture defines the overall logic of the data flow. For this implementation, we use the view.py file, which also sends the responses to the appropriate user.

Let me explain in simple terms: When you visit any website on the Internet by clicking a link, it sends a request to the server as soon as you click on the link. From Django’s point of view, this request is handled by a view that you write in a file called views.py.
So, whatever request is made related to the user interface and interaction, the view in Django handles that kind of request and returns the appropriate response.
The view in Django is implemented using Python functions and classes that accept the incoming HTTP request and return the HTTP response.
Most of the time, the view can fetch data through a model layer or data access layer to generate dynamic content.
You can define Django views using different HTTP methods such as GET, POST, etc.

The Template in the MVT architecture is a presentation layer that handles the user interface. So in Django, the template layer is responsible for generating HTML content that the user sees on the website.

Python Django supports template language, and the template language allows you to write HTML with template tags.
Using these tags, you can use the Python-like code to insert and generate dynamic content.

Next, let’s understand the workflow of Django using the MVT architecture.

So, whenever a user requests some resource, Django acts as a controller and looks for the resource in the urls.py file. The urls.py file in Django contains the URL that is associated with the specific view. You can simply consider that the urls.py file is the controller.

If the requested URL matches, the view associated with that URL is called. After this, the view interacts with the model and template and renders the template. In the end, Django responds to the user and returns the template as a response.

Here are a few tutorials you should learn:

How to Install Django in Python

Installing Django is straightforward. Follow these steps:

Set up a Virtual Environment: It’s a good practice to create a virtual environment for your projects to manage dependencies.python -m venv myenv source myenv/bin/activate # On Windows use `myenv\Scripts\activate`
Install Django: Once your virtual environment is activated, you can install Django using pip.pip install django

How to Import Django in Python

After installing Django, you can import it into your Python scripts. Here’s a simple example:

import django
print(django.get_version())

This script will print the installed version of Django, confirming that the import was successful.

How to Use Django in Python

Using Django involves several steps, from setting up a project to creating applications and running a server. Here’s a quick overview:

Step 1: Create a Django Project

First, create a new Django project using the django-admin command:

django-admin startproject myproject
cd myproject

This command creates a myproject directory with the necessary files to get started.

Step 2: Start the Development Server

Navigate to your project directory and run the development server:

python manage.py runserver

Open a web browser and go to http://127.0.0.1:8000/. You should see the Django welcome page.

Step 3: Create a Django Application

Inside your project, you can create multiple applications. Create an app using the following command:

python manage.py startapp myapp

This creates a myapp directory with a basic structure for your application.

Step 4: Define Models

In myapp/models.py, define your data models. For example:

from django.db import models

class Post(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    content = models.TextField()
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)

    def __str__(self):
        return self.title

Step 5: Apply Migrations

Create and apply migrations to set up your database schema:

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

Step 6: Register Models in Admin

To manage your models via Django’s admin interface, register them in myapp/admin.py:

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Post

admin.site.register(Post)

Step 7: Create Views and Templates

Create views in myapp/views.py and templates in a templates directory. For example, a simple view might look like this:

from django.shortcuts import render
from .models import Post

def index(request):
    posts = Post.objects.all()
    return render(request, 'index.html', {'posts': posts})

And a corresponding template templates/index.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>My Blog</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Blog Posts</h1>
    <ul>
        {% for post in posts %}
            <li>{{ post.title }} - {{ post.created_at }}</li>
        {% endfor %}
    </ul>
</body>
</html>

Step 8: Configure URLs

In myproject/urls.py, include the URLs for your app:

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

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    path('', views.index, name='index'),
]

Companies using Python Django

Django is simple and easy to use. Additionally, it offers many features that make it a perfect framework for any type of web application.

Django is so efficient that some big companies are also using it for their web applications. Here are some of the companies that use Django.

Instagram
Spotify
Mozilla
National Geographic
Pinterest
Bitbucket
Eventbrite

Python Django Tutorials

Now, I will show you a few Python Django tutorials that are for beginners to the advanced level.

Conclusion

Django is a powerful web framework for Python that simplifies building robust web applications. Its extensive features, active community, and comprehensive documentation make it an excellent choice for both beginners and experienced developers. You can quickly get started with Django and begin building your web applications in Python.

Django Tutorials [Beginners to Advanced Level]