Day 3. Getting Started with Django: Installing, Creating Your First Project, and Understanding the Structure
Welcome to Day 3 of Django tutorial series! In this blog, we’ll go through installing Django, creating your first project and application, and exploring the project structure that Django generates. By the end of this tutorial, you'll have a solid foundation to start building your own web applications with Django.
Installing Django
Activate Virtual Environment by following the steps from Day 1.
With your virtual environment activated, install Django using
pip:
pip install django
This command downloads and installs the latest version of Django and its dependencies. For specific version use pip install django==<version>
Creating Your First Django Project
Now that Django is installed, let's create a new project.
django-admin startproject projectpulse .
Note: The . at the end tells Django to create the project in the current directory./
Understanding the Project Structure
After running the command, your directory should look like this:
project_mgmt/
├── manage.py
└── projectpulse/
├── __init__.py
├── asgi.py
├── settings.py
├── urls.py
└── wsgi.py
Let's break down what each file does:
manage.py: A command-line utility that lets you interact with your Django project in various ways (e.g., running the development server, creating apps, migrating databases).
projectpulse/: The inner directory is your project's actual Python package.
init.py: An empty file that indicates this directory is a Python package.
asgi.py: Entry-point for ASGI-compatible web servers to serve your project.
settings.py: Configuration settings for your project.
urls.py: The URL declarations for your project; a “table of contents” of your Django-powered site.
wsgi.py: Entry-point for WSGI-compatible web servers to serve your project.
Running the Development Server
To verify that everything is set up correctly, run the development server:
python manage.py runserver
You should see output similar to:
Watching for file changes with StatReloader
Performing system checks...
System check identified no issues (0 silenced).
September 26, 2024 - 00:45:08
Django version 3.2, using settings 'projectpulse.settings'
Starting development server at http://127.0.0.1:8000/
Quit the server with CONTROL-C.
Open your web browser and navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8000/. You should see the Django "Welcome" page, indicating that your project is running successfully.
Understanding Projects and Apps in Django
Before we proceed, it's crucial to understand the difference between a project and an app in Django.
Projects
A project is the entire application, encompassing settings, configurations, and multiple apps. Think of it as the overarching container for your web application.
Apps
An app is a web application that does something specific—for example, a blog system, a forum, or a poll application. Apps are reusable components that can be included in multiple projects.
Key Points:
A project can contain multiple apps.
An app can be part of multiple projects.
website. A project can contain multiple apps. An app can be in multiple projects.
Creating an Application
Let's create an app called accounts, which will handle user authentication and profiles.
python manage.py startapp accounts
Your directory structure now includes the accounts app:
accounts/
├── __init__.py
├── admin.py
├── apps.py
├── migrations/
│ └── __init__.py
├── models.py
├── tests.py
└── views.py
Understanding the App Structure
init.py: Indicates that this directory is a Python package.
admin.py: Register your models here to make them accessible via Django's admin interface.
migrations/: Stores database migration files.
views.py: Handle the logic for processing requests and returning responses.
Customizing the User Model
While Django provides a default User model, you might need to add extra fields like profile_picture, address, or designation. In such cases, it's better to create a custom user model.
Why Create a Custom User Model?
Flexibility: Add custom fields to suit your application's needs.
Future-Proofing: Easier to make changes down the line.
Reusability: Custom models can be reused across different projects.
Approaches to Custom User Models
AbstractUser: Extends the existing Django
Usermodel.AbstractBaseUser: Allows you to create a completely new user model from scratch.
OneToOne Mapping with Profile Model
For this tutorial, we'll use the AbstractUser approach to extend the existing user model. We'll cover the implementation details in our next blog post. For learning more on CustomUsers, you can check How to Extend Django User Model
Conclusion
Congratulations! You've taken the first steps in your Django journey. Understanding the foundational structure of Django projects and apps sets you up for success as you build more complex applications. Stay tuned for the next post, where we'll enhance our accounts app with a custom user model.