How to create a Django project and application in Python?

Step by step Python tutorial with script examples to create a Django project and application.

Is this tutorial, let’s see how to create a Django project and application written in the Python programming language. Django is a high-level, open-source web framework written in Python that enables rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. It follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern, which encourages the separation of concerns in web application development. Django simplifies the creation of database-driven websites, handling many common tasks such as user authentication, form handling, and URL routing.

This technical tutorial will provide an introduction to Django, covering essential components and concepts. We’ll walk through setting up a Django project and creating an application. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a basic understanding of how to use Django to build web applications in Python.

Table of Contents

1. Install Django module and set up a new Python project

This first section is about how to install the Django module and how to create a new project.

1.1 Install Django using pip

Before we can use Django, we need to install it. We will use pip for this purpose. pip is a package manager for Python packages and is widely used to install and manage Python libraries.

To install Django using pip, follow the steps below:

Open a terminal (command prompt or shell) on your computer.
Make sure you have Python and pip installed on your system. To check if you have Python installed, run the following command:

python --version

If you have Python installed, you’ll see the version number in the output. If not, you’ll need to download and install Python from the official website. To check if you have pip installed, run the following command:

pip --version

If you have pip installed, you’ll see the version number in the output. If not, you’ll need to install pip. You can follow the instructions here on the pypa.io website. Now that you have Python and pip installed, you can install Django by running the following command:

pip install django

This command tells pip to search for the Django package in the Python Package Index (PyPI) and install it on your system. The installation process may take a few moments, depending on your internet connection speed.

After the installation is complete, you can check if Django was successfully installed by running this command:

django-admin --version

This command should return the version number of the installed Django package. If you see the version number, it means that Django was successfully installed on your system.

1.2 Create a new Django project

Now that we have Django installed, we can proceed to create a new Django project. A Django project is a collection of settings and configurations for a specific web application. The project consists of one or more Django apps, which are individual components of the project that perform specific tasks.

Follow these steps to create a new Django project:

Open a terminal (command prompt or shell) on your computer.
Navigate to the directory where you want to create your project. For example, you can create a new folder called “django_projects” in your home directory and navigate to it.
To create a new Django project, run the following command:

django-admin startproject hr_salary_management

Of course, you need to replace hr_salary_management with the name you want to give your project. This command will create a new directory with the same name as your project, and it will contain the basic files and folders required for a Django project.

Then navigate to the newly created project directory using the command below.

cd hr_salary_management

In the project directory, you’ll find the following files and folders:

hr_salary_management/: This folder contains the project’s main settings and configurations, such as settings.py, urls.py, and wsgi.py.
manage.py: This is a command-line utility that helps you manage your Django project. You’ll use this file to run various commands like starting the development server, creating database tables, and more.

Now you have successfully created a new Django project. The next steps will involve creating a new app within the project, defining models, and setting up views and templates to manage the salaries of the HR department.

2. Create a Django application

In this section, we’ll create a Django app to manage the salaries of the HR department. A Django app is a self-contained module that performs a specific task within a Django project. Apps can be reused across different projects, making it easier to maintain and scale your applications.

2.1 Go to the project directory and start the application

Follow these steps to create a new Django app:

Ensure you’re in the project directory (in our example, it’s hr_salary_management).
To create a new Django app, run the following command:

python manage.py startapp salaries

Replace “salaries” with the name you want to give your app. This command will create a new directory with the same name as your app, and it will contain the basic files and folders required for a Django app. The new app directory will have the following structure:

migrations/: This folder contains database migration files, which are used to apply changes to your database schema as your models evolve.
__init__.py: This is an empty file that tells Python to treat the directory as a package.
admin.py: This file is used to define the admin interface for the app.
apps.py: This file contains the main configuration for the app.
models.py: This file is used to define the data models for the app.
tests.py: This file is used to write tests for the app.
views.py: This file is used to define the views (business logic) for the app.

2.2 Add the Django application to the project settings

Now that we’ve created the app, we need to add it to the project’s settings. Open the settings.py file in the hr_salary_management folder and find the INSTALLED_APPS list. Add your new app to the list:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'salaries',
]

Now you have successfully created a new Django app within your project. The next steps will involve defining models to store employee and salary information, setting up views to display and manage this data, and configuring URLs to access the different views.

Conclusion on setting up a Django project

In this tutorial, we have explored how to create a Django project and application in Python. We covered the essential components and concepts of Django, including installing the Django module using pip, setting up a new project, and creating an application within the project. By following the steps outlined in this tutorial, you can start building an HR salary management web application using Django.

As you develop your Django app, you will need to define models to store employee and salary information, create views to display and manage this data, and configure URLs to access the different views. By diving deeper into Django’s extensive features, you can create a robust and scalable web application for managing salaries in an HR department.

We hope this tutorial has provided you with a solid foundation for working with Django and Python, and has inspired you to explore the capabilities of Django further. Keep learning and experimenting, and you’ll soon be well on your way to becoming a Django expert. Happy coding!

It is possible to connect to SQL Server databases using Python.