Introduction to Django Web

Framework
Web application development seminar, Fall 2007
Tampere University of Technology

Jaakko Salonen <jaakko.t.salonen@tut.fi>

Jukka Huhtamki <jukka.huhtamaki@tut.fi>

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 http://www.djangoproject.com/
Django The MacGyver of
Web Frameworks
http://www.unessa.net/en/hoyci/2007/
01/django-macgyver-web-frameworks/

Django gets the big picture

http://www.oreillynet.com/
onlamp/blog/2006/07/
django_gets_the_big_picture.html

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Image from: WikipediaTampere University of Technology
 In this presentation

A short history of Django

Key Philosophies
Key Features
An example: [Implementing] poll application in Django

An example: Testing in Django

Discussion and questions

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 A short history of Django

Originally developed at World Online as a publishing framework

Fall 2003 The developers at World Online switched

from PHP to Python. Django was born.

Summer 2005 Django is open sourced, community

begins to emerge

Fall 2007 Latest official version is still 0.96.1

Hundreds of sites use Django

[Near] future Final 1.0 release with stabile API,

along with a book (Holovathy and Kaplan-
Moss 2007)

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 Key Philosophies

As according to (http://www.djangoproject.com/):

Loose Coupling
Clear interfaces between different layers of the framework
Less code
Especially by utilising Python's dynamic capabilities
Quick [Web] Development
Focus on outcome, not on the details
Dont Repeat Yourself
Single placement for every distinct concept and/or data
An MTV(?) (Model-Template-View) framework
Rather thanMVC (Model-View-Controller)

Emphasis on reusability and "pluggability"

of components
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 Key Features (1/2)

As according to (http://www.djangoproject.com/):

Object-relational mapper (ORM)

For dynamic data-access API (cf. Ambler, 2006)

Polished administration interface for end-users

With configurable CRUD support (Create,Read,Update,Delete)

Elegant URL design

for parameter-free URIs hiding the technology, based on
URL mapping (cf. Berners-Lee, 1998)

Template system
providing means to separate design, content and code

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 Key Features (2/2)

Built-in web application core features

Authentication (session management, login/logout)
Authorisation (user rights and roles),
Multi-site support for single-source publishing and
Redeployable apps

Built-in Internationalisation (i18n) support

Based on translation strings

Cache support
Instructions are provided for integrating Memcached
(http://www.danga.com/memcached/) into a Django app

Built-in test framework (doctests and unit tests)

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Example: Poll application in Django (1/7)

Task: to implement a site that lets people view

polls and vote in them (and manage polls)
A summary of Django's tutorial, for more comphrensive version, see
http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/tutorial01/

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Example: Poll application in Django (2/7)

Step 1/3: Poll Model

polls/
models.py
views.py
templates/
polls.html

from django.db import models

class Poll(models.Model):
question = models.CharField(max_length=200)
pub_date = models.DateTimeField('date published')
class Admin:
pass

class Choice(models.Model):
poll = models.ForeignKey(Poll)
choice = models.CharField(max_length=200)
votes = models.IntegerField()

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Example: Poll application in Django (3/7)

Step 2/3: Poll View (control logic for latest polls)

polls/
models.py
views.py
templates/
polls.html

from mysite.polls.models import Poll

from django.http import HttpResponse

def index(request):
latest_poll_list = Poll.objects.all().order_by('-pub_date')[:5]
output = ', '.join([p.question for p in latest_poll_list])
return HttpResponse(output)

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Example: Poll application in Django (4/7)

Step 3/3: Poll Template (a representation)

polls/
models.py
views.py
templates/
polls.html

{% if latest_poll_list %}
<ul>
{% for poll in latest_poll_list %}
<li>{{ poll.question }}</li>
{% endfor %}
</ul>
{% else %}
<p>No polls are available.</p>
{% endif %}

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Example: Poll application in Django (5/7)

Database schema is generated from the model:

$ python manage.py syncdb

BEGIN;
CREATE TABLE "polls_poll" (
"id" serial NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
"question" varchar(200) NOT NULL,
"pub_date" timestamp with time zone NOT NULL
);
CREATE TABLE "polls_choice" (
"id" serial NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
"poll_id" integer NOT NULL REFERENCES "polls_poll" ("id"),
"choice" varchar(200) NOT NULL,
"votes" integer NOT NULL
);
COMMIT;

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Example: Poll application in Django (6/7)

..And test server is available instantly:

$ python manage.py runserver 8080

<ul>
<li>What is your favourite food?</li>
<li>What is your favourite movie?</li>
<li>What is up?</li>
<li>If you had more time, you would dedicate it to what?</li>
</ul>

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Example: Poll application in Django (7/7)

Poll administration? The user interface is readily generated!

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 Example: Inserting doctest to Poll Model

Doctests can be written directly to model definitions (models.py)

...
class Poll(models.Model):

>>> p = Poll(title=u'Your favourite movie')
>>> p.question = 'What is your favourite movie?'
>>> p.save()
>>> p
<Poll: 'Your favourite movie'>
>>> p.question
What is your favourite movie?

...

Running the tests

$ python manage.py test

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 Discussion

Content management is addressed by many features

A statement for that Django is designed for

implementing content management systems

Clear emphasis on agile web publishing
...even in favor of framework genericity and extensibility
Questions that have to be asked:
Is Django fit for Rich Internet Application (RIA)

development?
What if database bindings are complex?

How much of the web application core features can

be customised? (admin UI, authentication, etc.)

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 Questions

Question?
Comments?
Discussion!

Jaakko Salonen <jaakko.t.salonen@tut.fi>

Jukka Huhtamki <jukka.huhtamaki@tut.fi>

Hypermedia Laboratory Tampere University of Technology

 References

[Ambler, 2006] Mapping Objects to Relational Databases: O/R

Mapping In Detail.

[Berners-Lee, 1998 ] Cool URIs don't change. Online article.

Available at <http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI>.

[Holovathy and Kaplan-Moss, 2007]. The Definitive Guide to

Django: Web Development Done Right . To be published.

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