11 3 1 Setting Up Django Explained

Key Concepts

Setting up Django involves several key concepts:

• Introduction to Django
• Installing Django
• Creating a Django Project
• Running the Django Development Server
• Understanding the Structure of a Django Project

1. Introduction to Django

Django is a high-level Python web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. It is designed to help developers take applications from concept to completion as quickly as possible.

2. Installing Django

Before you can start building a Django application, you need to install Django. You can install Django using pip, the Python package installer.

pip install Django
    

3. Creating a Django Project

A Django project is a collection of settings for an instance of Django, including database configuration, Django-specific options, and application-specific settings. You can create a new project using the django-admin command.

django-admin startproject myproject
    

Analogy: Think of creating a Django project as setting up a new office with all the necessary equipment and furniture.

4. Running the Django Development Server

Once you have created your Django project, you can run the development server to see your application in action. The development server is a lightweight web server included with Django that is useful for development purposes.

cd myproject
python manage.py runserver
    

Analogy: Running the Django development server is like turning on the lights in your new office to start working.

5. Understanding the Structure of a Django Project

A Django project typically consists of several components, including the main project directory, settings file, URL configuration, and application directories. The main project directory contains the settings file, URL configuration, and other project-level files.

Example Structure:

myproject/
    manage.py
    myproject/
        __init__.py
        settings.py
        urls.py
        asgi.py
        wsgi.py
    

Analogy: Think of the structure of a Django project as the layout of an office, with different rooms (directories) for different tasks (files).