Comprehensive Guide to Setting Up Django

Setting up Django involves a series of steps to get the framework installed, configured, and ready for development. Here’s a detailed guide:

Prerequisites

• Python Installation

Ensure Python is installed on your system. Django is a Python-based framework, so you need Python 3.6 or higher.

• Check Installation:

Run python --version in your command line to check your Python version.

• Download and Install:

If Python is not installed, download it from python.org and follow the installation instructions for your operating system.

Installing Django

• Using pip

pip is the Python package installer, used to install Django and other packages.

• Install pip:

Most Python installations include pip. Verify by running:

pip --version

• Creating Virtual environment:

To create a virtual environment, decide upon a directory where you want to place it and run the venv module as a script with the directory path:

python3 -m venv venv

Activating virtual environment:

On Windows, run:

venv\Scripts\activate

On Unix or MacOS, run:

source venv/bin/activate

• Install Django:

Run pip install django to install the latest version of Django.

pip install django

Creating a Django Project

• Project Initialization

Django projects contain all settings and configurations for your website.

Use django-admin startproject projectname command to create a new project. Replace projectname with your desired project name.

• Project Structure:

The command creates a directory structure that includes:

• manage.py:

A command-line utility for interacting with your project.

• A directory named projectname containing:

• init.py:

An empty file that indicates this directory is a Python package.

• settings.py:

Configuration settings for your project.

• urls.py:

URL declarations for your project.

• wsgi.py:

An entry-point for WSGI-compatible web servers.

• asgi.py:

An entry-point for ASGI-compatible web servers.

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

Running the Development Server

• Starting the Server

Django includes a lightweight web server for development purposes.

• Command:

Navigate to your project directory and run:

  python manage.py runserver

You’ll see the following output on the command line:

Performing system checks...

System check identified no issues (0 silenced).

You have unapplied migrations; your app may not work properly until they are applied.
Run 'python manage.py migrate' to apply them.

June 09, 2024 - 15:50:53
Django version 5.0, using settings 'mysite.settings'
Starting development server at http://127.0.0.1:8000/
Quit the server with CONTROL-C.

• Accessing the Server:

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

Create New App

To create your app, make sure you’re in the same directory as manage.py and type this command:

$ python manage.py startapp newApp

Replace the newApp name with your desired App name

That’ll create a directory NewApp. which is laid out like this:

newApp/
    __init__.py
    admin.py
    apps.py
    migrations/
        __init__.py
    models.py
    tests.py
    views.py

Configuring the New App

• Adding to INSTALLED_APPS

Include your new app in the project settings to make Django aware of it.

• Edit settings.py:

Add 'appname', to the INSTALLED_APPS list in settings.py.

INSTALLED_APPS = [


    'newApp',


]

Database Setup

• Default Database

Django uses SQLite by default, which is suitable for development and testing.

• Settings:

The database settings are located in settings.py. No additional configuration is required for SQLite.

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
        'NAME': BASE_DIR / 'db.sqlite3',
    }
}

• Using Other Databases

For production, you might use databases like PostgreSQL or MySQL.

• Install Database Adapter:

Use pip install psycopg2 for PostgreSQL or pip install mysqlclient for MySQL.

• Update settings.py:

Modify the DATABASES setting with the appropriate configuration for your database.

Applying Migrations

• Database Schema

Migrations are Django’s way of propagating changes to your models (adding a field, deleting a model, etc.) into your database schema.

• Create Migrations:

Run python manage.py makemigrations to create new migrations based on the changes you made to your models.

python manage.py makemigrations

Migrations for 'newApp':
  posts/migrations/0001_initial.py
    - Create model newModel

• Apply Migrations:

Run python manage.py migrate to apply the migrations and synchronize the database state with your models.

python manage.py migrate

 Apply all migrations: admin, auth, contenttypes, newApp, sessions
Running migrations:
  Applying contenttypes.0001_initial... OK
  Applying auth.0001_initial... OK
  Applying admin.0001_initial... OK
  Applying admin.0002_logentry_remove_auto_add... OK
  Applying admin.0003_logentry_add_action_flag_choices... OK
  Applying contenttypes.0002_remove_content_type_name... OK
  Applying auth.0002_alter_permission_name_max_length... OK
  Applying auth.0003_alter_user_email_max_length... OK
  Applying auth.0004_alter_user_username_opts... OK
  Applying auth.0005_alter_user_last_login_null... OK
  Applying auth.0006_require_contenttypes_0002... OK
  Applying auth.0007_alter_validators_add_error_messages... OK
  Applying auth.0008_alter_user_username_max_length... OK
  Applying auth.0009_alter_user_last_name_max_length... OK
  Applying auth.0010_alter_group_name_max_length... OK
  Applying auth.0011_update_proxy_permissions... OK
  Applying auth.0012_alter_user_first_name_max_length... OK
  Applying posts.0001_initial... OK
  Applying sessions.0001_initial... OK

Creating a Superuser

• Admin Interface Access

The Django admin interface allows for easy management of site content.

• Command: Run python manage.py createsuperuser and follow the prompts to create an administrative user.

python manage.py createsuperuser

Username (leave blank to use 'virus'):         
Email address: 
Password: 
Password (again): 
This password is too short. It must contain at least 8 characters.
This password is too common.
This password is entirely numeric.
Bypass password validation and create user anyway? [y/N]: y
Superuser created successfully.

Running the Development Server Again

• Start Server

With the initial setup complete, start the development server again to ensure everything is working.

• Command:

Run python manage.py runserver and verify that your project and apps are functioning correctly by visiting http://127.0.0.1:8000/.

python manage.py runserver

Thank you for reading this far. Stay tuned for a glimpse into application Configuration!

References

• Django Documentation: docs.djangoproject.com

• Django Project Website: djangoproject.com

• Python Official Website: python.org