Chapter 19. An Introduction to Django
If you have ever developed web applications, you are probably aware that it can oftentimes be a tedious task. To help ease this problem, some languages have turned to web application frameworks such as Ruby on Rails or Java's Spring Framework to handle some of the basic building blocks common to all web applications, leaving the programmer to concentrate on the more interesting aspects.
Nearly every language has at least one — and in many instances quite a few — frameworks, and Python is no exception. Built upon the Python language, Django is the standard web application framework used by Python developers who want to build for the Web on the fly.
You do not need to know web development to read this chapter, but it will certainly make things easier. At the bare minimum you should have a solid understanding of procedural programming, and be comfortable working with decision making (if statements and loops), as well as data storage through lists and hashes. If not, it might be worth going back and reviewing the previous chapters in this book.
In this chapter you learn:
To define what a framework is and explain why you would use one
To install the latest version of Django
To explain what the MVC/MTV Architecture is
To create views and templates in Django
To incorporate databases into your Django web applications
What Are Frameworks and Why Would I Use One?
Earlier I bandied about the term web application framework without really explaining what one was. ...
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