Framework · Since 2005

Django

Django is a full-stack Python web framework for building database-backed web applications quickly, with an ORM, an admin site and authentication built in.

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Django is an open-source web framework written in Python. It was released in 2005 and is now maintained by the non-profit Django Software Foundation. It follows an MTV (Model, Template, View) structure and ships with most of what a web service needs, including URL routing, an ORM, a template engine, forms, authentication and an admin interface, which is why it is often called a batteries-included framework.

Django is especially strong for database-centric services such as content management systems, internal business tools, e-commerce sites and REST API backends. Define your models as Python classes, let migrations create the tables, and manage the data right away in the automatically generated admin. Protection against common attacks such as CSRF, SQL injection, XSS and clickjacking is enabled by default.

If you are new to Django, create a virtual environment, install Django with pip, and work through the official polls tutorial from start to finish. Once you have defined a model, run a migration and wired a view to a template, you can look up the rest of the framework in the reference as you need it.

Highlights

ORM and migrations

Define models as Python classes to query and save data without writing SQL; when models change, makemigrations and migrate keep the database schema in step.

Automatic admin

Register a model and you get an admin interface for searching, adding, editing and deleting records, so you rarely need to build back-office tools yourself.

Secure by default

CSRF protection, automatic HTML escaping in templates, parameterized queries and strong password hashing are all on from the start.

Authentication and forms

Built-in user, group and permission models, login views, and forms and model forms that validate input.

Where it is used

Content management systems, news sites and blogs
Internal business systems and admin tools
REST API backends
E-commerce and membership web services

Install

1
Create a virtual environment
Create and activate a Python virtual environment in your project folder. The command below is for macOS and Linux; on Windows, activate it with .venv\Scripts\activate.
```
python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
```
2
Install Django
Install Django with pip inside the virtual environment. Afterwards the django-admin command is available.
```
python -m pip install Django
```
3
Create and run a project
Create a new project with django-admin, start the development server, and open http://127.0.0.1:8000 in your browser.
```
django-admin startproject mysite && cd mysite && python manage.py runserver
```

Your first program

Your first project

Replace the mysite/urls.py generated by startproject with the code above and you have the smallest Django app: it returns Hello, world! at the root URL. A view is a function that takes a request and returns an HttpResponse, and urlpatterns maps URLs to views. The development server restarts automatically when the code changes.

mysite/urls.py

from django.http import HttpResponse
from django.urls import path


def hello(request):
    return HttpResponse("Hello, world!")


urlpatterns = [
    path("", hello),
]

django-admin startproject mysite && cd mysite && python manage.py runserver

Everyday tools

Django REST Framework: The go-to extension for building REST APIs from models and serializers, with authentication, permissions, pagination and a browsable API.
django-debug-toolbar: Shows panels with the SQL queries, templates, settings and timing for each page during development.
pytest-django: A plugin for testing Django projects with pytest, providing database access markers and fixtures such as client.
Gunicorn: A Python HTTP server that runs Django's WSGI application in production, usually behind a reverse proxy such as Nginx.

Step-by-step guide

Six chapters that take you from installation to the core ideas of Django.

Official docs and resources

Languages

PythonPython is a readable, general-purpose language with a large standard library, widely used for automation, web backends, data analysis and machine learning.

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