Django for Beginners: Build websites with Python & Django

306 Pages·2022·11.466 MB·English

Django for Beginners
Build websites with Python & Django
William S. Vincent
Thisbookisforsaleathttp://leanpub.com/djangoforbeginners
Thisversionwaspublishedon2022-03-24
ThisisaLeanpubbook.LeanpubempowersauthorsandpublisherswiththeLeanPublishing
process.LeanPublishingistheactofpublishinganin-progressebookusinglightweighttools
andmanyiterationstogetreaderfeedback,pivotuntilyouhavetherightbookandbuild
tractiononceyoudo.
©2018-2022WilliamS.Vincent
Also By William S. Vincent
DjangoforAPIs
DjangoforProfessionals
Contents
Introduction 1
WhyDjango 1
WhyThisBook 2
Prerequisites 3
BookStructure 3
BookLayout 4
AdviceonGettingStuck 5
Community 6
Conclusion 6
Chapter1:InitialSetUp 7
TheCommandLine 7
ShellCommands 9
InstallPython3onWindows 12
InstallPython3onMac 13
PythonInteractiveMode 14
VirtualEnvironments 14
InstallDjango 17
FirstDjangoProject 19
TextEditors 22
InstallGit 23
Conclusion 25
Chapter2:HelloWorldApp 26
InitialSetUp 26
CONTENTS
HTTPRequest/ResponseCycle 32
Model-View-ControllervsModel-View-Template 33
CreateAnApp 34
Hello,World 36
Git 40
GitHub 42
SSHKeys 43
Conclusion 44
Chapter3:PagesApp 45
InitialSetUp 45
Templates 48
Class-BasedViews 49
URLs 50
AboutPage 51
ExtendingTemplates 53
Tests 55
GitandGitHub 60
LocalvsProduction 62
Heroku 62
DeploymentChecklist 64
Conclusion 69
Chapter4:MessageBoardApp 70
InitialSetUp 70
CreateaDatabaseModel 73
Activatingmodels 74
DjangoAdmin 75
Views/Templates/URLs 80
AddingNewPosts 83
Tests 84
GitHub 88
HerokuConfiguration 89
CONTENTS
HerokuDeployment 90
Conclusion 91
Chapter5:BlogApp 92
InitialSetUp 92
DatabaseModels 95
Admin 96
URLs 100
Views 101
Templates 102
StaticFiles 104
IndividualBlogPages 109
Tests 113
Git 117
Conclusion 118
Chapter6:Forms 119
CreateView 119
UpdateView 125
DeleteView 129
Tests 134
Conclusion 136
Chapter7:UserAccounts 137
LogIn 137
UpdatedHomepage 140
LogOutLink 141
SignUp 144
SignUpLink 149
GitHub 150
StaticFiles 151
HerokuConfig 154
HerokuDeployment 155
CONTENTS
SQLitevsPostgreSQL 156
Conclusion 157
Chapter8:CustomUserModel 158
InitialSetUp 158
CustomUserModel 159
Forms 161
Superuser 164
Conclusion 168
Chapter9:UserAuthentication 169
Templates 169
URLs 172
Admin 176
Tests 181
Conclusion 183
Chapter10:Bootstrap 184
PagesApp 184
Tests 187
TestingPhilosophy 188
Bootstrap 188
SignUpForm 193
Conclusion 198
Chapter11:PasswordChangeandReset 199
PasswordChange 199
CustomizingPasswordChange 200
PasswordReset 203
CustomTemplates 207
TryItOut 210
Conclusion 212
Chapter12:Email 213
CONTENTS
SendGrid 213
CustomEmails 220
Conclusion 222
Chapter13:NewspaperApp 223
ArticlesApp 223
URLsandViews 227
Detail/Edit/Delete 231
CreatePage 237
Conclusion 242
Chapter14:PermissionsandAuthorization 243
ImprovedCreateView 243
Authorizations 245
Mixins 247
LoginRequiredMixin 249
UpdateViewandDeleteView 251
Conclusion 253
Chapter15:Comments 254
Model 254
Admin 255
Template 264
CommentForm 268
CommentView 269
CommentTemplate 270
CommentPostView 272
Conclusion 277
Chapter16:Deployment 278
EnvironmentVariables 279
DEBUG&ALLOWEDHOSTS 281
SECRET_KEY 284
CONTENTS
DATABASES 285
StaticFiles 287
DeploymentChecklist 289
GitHub 291
HerokuDeployment 291
Conclusion 294
Conclusion 295
NextSteps 295
3rdPartyPackages 296
LearningResources 296
PythonBooks 297
Feedback 297
Introduction
WelcometoDjangoforBeginners,aproject-basedapproachtolearningwebdevelopmentwith
the Django1 web framework. In this book you will build five progressively more complex web
applications,startingwithasimpleHello,Worldapp,progressingtoaPagesapp,aMessageBoard
app,aBlogappwithformsanduseraccounts,andfinallyaNewspaperappthatusesacustom
user model, email integration, foreign keys, authorization, permissions, and more. By the end
of this book you should feel confident creating your own Django projects from scratch using
currentbestpractices.
Djangoisafree,opensourcewebframeworkwritteninthePythonprogramminglanguage.First
releasedin2005,Djangohasbeenincontinuousdevelopmentsincethenandtodaypowersmany
ofthelargestwebsitesintheworldincludingInstagram,Pinterest,Bitbucket,andDisqus.Atthe
sametime,itisflexibleenoughtobeapopularchoiceforearly-stagestartupsandsideprojects.
Why Django
A “web framework” is a collection of tools that abstract away much of the difficulty–and
repetition–inherent in web development. For example, most websites need the same basic
functionality: the ability to connect to a database, set URL routes, display content on a page,
handlesecurityproperly,andsoon.Ratherthanrecreateallofthisfromscratch,programmers
overtheyearshavecreatedwebframeworksinallthemajorprogramminglanguages:Djangoin
Python,RailsinRuby,andLaravelinPHPamongmany,manyothers.
DjangoinheritedPython’s“batteries-included”approachandincludesout-of-theboxsupport
forcommontasksinwebdevelopment,including:
• userauthentication
• testing
1https://djangoproject.com