Preface
Data science is hot right now, and the need for multi-talented developers is greater than ever before. With a growing skills gap, the need for talented developers is greater than ever before. A basic grounding in building apps with a framework as minimalistic, powerful, and easy-to-learn as Django will be a useful skill to launch you on a career as an entrepreneur or web developer.
Django is one of the most popular web frameworks in use today. It powers large websites, such as Pinterest, Instagram, Disqus, and NASA. With a few lines of code, you can rapidly build a functional and secure website that can scale to millions of users.
For some years, web development has evolved through frameworks. Web development has become more efficient and has improved in quality. Django is a very sophisticated and popular framework. Django is based on the Python programming language, where the code is clear and easy to read. Also, Django has a lot of third-party modules that can be used in conjunction with your own apps. Django has an established and vibrant community, where you can find source code, get help, and contribute.
This course is a learning path that uses module-by-module pedagogy to help novice developers learn how to easily deal with the Django framework. This course will also provide you a basic grounding in the fundamental concepts of web development with Python, as well as the hands-on experience in order to successfully build web applications with Django.
What this learning path covers
Module 1, Django Essentials, a practical guide, filled with many real world examples to build highly effective Django web application. It begins with step-by-step installation of Python, PIP, and Django on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.
Module 2, Web Development with Django Cookbook, covers varying complexities to help you create multilingual, responsive, and scalable websites with Django.
Module 3, Django Design Patterns and Best Practices, This module will teach you common design patterns to develop better Django code. Creating a successful web application involves much more than Django, so advanced topics including REST, testing, debugging, security, and deployment are also explored in detail in this module.
What you need for this learning path
To develop with Django 1.8, you will need Python 2.7 or Python 3.4, the Pillow library for image manipulation, the MySQL database and MySQLdb bindings or PostgreSQL database, virtualenv to keep each project's Python modules separated, and Git or Subversion for version control.
The other software required for Django development are as follows:
- PIP 1.5
- Text editor (or a Python IDE)
- Web browser (the latest version, please)
For Module 3, Django Design Patterns and Best Practices, it is recommend to work on a Linux-based system such as Ubuntu or Arch Linux. If you are on Windows, you can work on a Linux virtual machine using Vagrant or VirtualBox.
Certain chapters might also require installing certain Python libraries or Django packages. They will be mentioned as, say—the factory_boy package. In most cases, they can be installed using pip as follows:
$ pip install factory_boy
Hence, it is highly recommended that you first create a separate virtual environment, as mentioned in Module 3, Chapter 2, Application Design.
Who this learning path is for
Web developers who want to use modern Python-based web frameworks like Django to build powerful web applications. The course is mostly self-contained and introduces web development with Python to a reader who is familiar with web development concepts and can help him become an expert in this trade. It’s intended for all levels of web developers, both students and practitioners from novice to experts.
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